ᴛʜᴇ ᴀʀᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴜʀᴅᴇʀ
by KathRoyale
Summary: The seven manage to defeat Gaea, but in doing so, turn on their purest heroes. Bitter and betrayed, Percy and Piper flee from Camp only to be confronted by the deity Chaos. The pair accept her apprenticeship and are gifted elemental powers. A millennia later, Chaos is forced to break her oath and send them to Earth. With hooded faces and venomous spite, just who are the Guardians?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! I'm Kathie. I already posted this fanfiction once, but I am doing some real editing. A lot of the words will be different, and the plot has changed permanently. I am really excited to be writing this! I will update every… month, at the latest, and I really hope you enjoy my story. It's going to be amazing! I'm aiming to write one thousand words per day- but it's really difficult as I have my end of year exams – cue the shudders – and am really, really, exhausted. I am younger than most writers... When the exams are done, I'll try to update more frequently- once every two weeks or so? Thank you for reading this, and please review! That magical button… Please.**

 **\- Piper McLean -**

The seven were covered in sweat and grime, dirt and monster dust. After a few years of being tossed around, used, borrowed and returned, Piper had come to a reluctant understanding. They were just pawns in the gods' endless chess battle.

Unlike during the titan war, the gods had introduced a new sinister way of controlling the demigods. The rules had changed. It was obey… or die. It was a lethal battle, but it was her final one, she promised herself.

To her, there were no facades of… great _glory_ , treasures, or godhood that awaited the one who defeated Gaea.

Piper was too experienced in the art of murder to care about such trivial things. She was old enough to understand that every life lost was just that- a loss. And hundreds, if not thousands of lives had been taken. But in every failure there was a lesson, Piper thought somberly.

"To be a survivor you must kill, and to have the chance to kill, you must survive."

And through the worst of battles, the seven had emerged. Not unscathed, but with memories more scarring than any mortal wound. Battle after battle, death after death.

"The cycle ends today," she whispered to herself.

But then again, that was what she had been saying for the last three years.

A few skeletal like figures huddled in the middle of the field, while the mess of colored battles smeared and blended into one another until they all looked the same. The girl with the owl tattoo gave an order to the grimy boy with the hammer, and he nodded solemnly.

Barking another order, Annabeth started to sag to the ground and grasped on to Percy for support. He offered her his other arm and she gently kissed his cheek.

"Ignore what I just said. That was before the calculation of the monsters surpassed the rate of them incoming at the circle and how fast we can kill them." Annabeth said flatly.

Leo looked stumped. "Um… English please?"

Everyone shared a small smile.

"We have to split up," Annabeth sighed, the sign of pleasure falling from her face. "According to the velocity of how far we'll be able to run, we have to leave in a few minutes. We have enough time to get into groups."

She frowned in concentration, assessing their abilities to give them the utmost chance of survival.

"Okay…" she said after a few minutes. "I want Leo alone, creating an inferno of fire. If he was to have a partner, they would get burned, or Leo would not fully lash out in fear of them getting hurt." Leo nodded in disappointment.

"I guess that makes sense," he muttered.

"I'll go with Percy," Annabeth said, ignoring him. "I can't support myself on my own for very long, and we'll both fight better knowing the other is alright." A wide grin had split Percy's face in half and he nodded empathetically.

"Jason and Frank," she said slowly, as if she was speaking their names for the first time. "That would actually work. Okay, Frank, I want you to shift into a bull and charge at the monsters. Any others trying to attack him from behind will be fried," she said meaningfully, turning to look at Jason.

She turned to the smallest member of the group.

"Hazel," Annabeth murmured worriedly. "I'm afraid I want you on your own. It would be too risky to pair you and Piper up. Just imagine the disaster that would occur if Piper picked up one of your cursed gems." She paused for a second. "Just try summoning sharp objects like crazy. Make a wall around yourself. Hopefully monsters will charge at you. As soon as the monsters pick them up, boom, that's one less monster we have to deal with."

"Piper," Annabeth finally said, turning to face her. "You will be by the gorge. I want you charmspeaking, making all those monsters jump off of it when they come at you. Understand?"

Piper gave a tense nod.

They all shared one last moment, before Frank looked away, wiping away the tears that had formed in Hazel's eyes.

"We have to go now," Percy said sadly, looking as if he wanted to memorize their faces forever.

"You were the b-best family I ever h-had. Nico's f-family, but he's always away, and y-you're always h-here." Hazel choked out, hiccupping. Piper held out her scarred arms, and Hazel ran in to them, a few tears leaking out of her eyes.

"Stay safe," Piper breathed. "Please. Your life is top priority. Understand?"

Hazel nodded into her shoulder, before slowly backing away until she was a safe distance from the rest of them. Percy took Annabeth's hand and shot them one last look that spoke volumes.

"Goodbye," He said solemnly. "Good luck guys."

Annabeth nodded. "I second that," she said.

And they walked away. Jason embraced Piper and then gave them all a smile.

"Fortuna melioribus tibi. Nemini regno dignum morte." Frank spoke in Latin.

"I agree," said Piper firmly, understanding immediately. "Now go, they're coming."

They all shot a glance at the approaching monsters.

Piper just gave them a determined smile before sprinting off in the direction of the gorge. Sparing one last glance at them, she saw Leo's hands, as a beacon of light as two little fireballs danced in his palms, marking the beginning.

-Linebreak-

Hours had passed. The battle was faring well, but Piper could only hope that her friends could make it out alive. She wasn't sure how much more the rest of them could take, before something cracked and the dam holding them together collapsed.

Her leg throbbed furiously; another hellhound bit her hard, scraping the bone that protruded out of her leg. Piper could see the bare whiteness under the layer of bloodied flesh. Grimacing, she dragged her wound out of the way of another attack.

An empousai launched herself at Piper, and the girl snarled in frustration, struggling to land a blow. Piper managed to land a slice on the empousai's back, before she had to go on the defensive, dodging and running to avoid her claws.

The monster retaliated with a vicious kick to her kidney, knocking the breath out of her. Piper gasped and huffed, slashing down with Katoptris, creating a deep gash that started at the creature's left shoulder and ended near her hip. The fanged woman hissed in fury, but after deliberation, quickly retreated.

The monstrosity had a single slender leg that could've made any man swoon if not for the green scales that snaked tightly across her body. Her other leg was made of bronze metal. Her carnivorous teeth dripped with blood that turned her pale pink lips red. She gave a snarl as she turned one last time to glare at her opponent.

 _I'll be back,_ her eyes seemed to convey.

"You serve the goddess Hecate," Piper called to her. "She is battling for the Olympians!" The empousai just turned back to give a sneer, showing her teeth, and raced off. Piper tried not to feel overwhelmed as the monsters crowded around her.

She couldn't charmspeak them, as servants of magic they would hear right through her honeyed enchantment. Piper decided it was time to leap in to the fray and abandon her post by the gorge.

The enemy lines had almost been shattered and many monsters were running in chaos, struggling to find a commander. A hellhound growled menacingly and stood over another one who was injured. Most likely his mate, but Piper was too far gone to feel excessive pity.

She darted forward and slit the injured hound's throat, and her labored breathing eased into nothing. The hellhound dissolved gently on the floor.

Before she had time to react, Piper felt claws rake her chest. Thankfully, before it could do any real damage she plunged her dagger into another one of it's wounds, and it exploded into dust.

A flicker of movement at the corner of her vision alerted her to a lunging venti. She waited until it was with in arms reach and then stuck her knife straight up and watched the creature impale itself. However, the venti had a much more airy form than she had originally thought, and the spirit didn't dissolve. Piper withdrew her knife from the wounded creature's body and threw Katoptris at a 90-degree angle; easily impaling it's lungs. She watched coldly as it coughed up blood and dirt. Piper picked up her knife and sighed.

To many lives lost. If only they would surrender, she though briefly, before she started hunting other monsters. She scanned the battle and heard a frightened scream over the clashing weapons. Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she spotted the source and was horrified to see Lacy lying on the ground, blood flowing jerkily from her neck. A hellhound viciously snarled and pounded away with her blood on its teeth.

Piper ran over to her bloodstained figure and desperately held ripped some cloth from under her metal plated breastplate. She pressed it quickly to her throat wound, but the flimsy cotton was soaked within seconds. Her deep blue eyes had a glassy look to them, as the red liquid pulsed, a dying force soaking into the sand. Piper tried to ignore the fang-shaped bite protruding from the side of her throat; cradled her head in her lap. Lacy's eyes held a whisper of a smile, and she nodded breathlessly as her life force ebbed away.

"Be brave," she murmured to her. Piper couldn't speak, and she felt tears gathering in her eyes.

Then Lacy's eyes became unfocused and she stared distantly at the sky, her eyes reflecting the blue of the void and the white of the spotless clouds.

Gently, she closed Lacy's eyes, trying to make her as presentable as she could, smoothing out her hair and hiking up her armor to hide her throat wound. She pried her cold fingers off her blade, and sheathed it in her own belt. Piper gave her one last kiss on the forehead and tore herself away, tears running from her eyes like little streams.

Remorse for her dead sister fueled her anger, and Piper started hunting the hellhound that had caused her death. In the chaos of the battle, Piper saw only rare paw prints of the beast. She knew she was losing time, precious time, but she felt as if she owed this to her sister- to cause the death of her killer, at least for a little bit.

After a few minutes later, Piper finally caught up to it as it attacked another victim from behind.

A nameless demigod was fighting a dracanae. He collapsed as the hellhound dug its claws into his ribs. Piper gave a powerful swing with Lacy's sword and caught the hellhound's abdomen. Its look of fear was a satisfaction she couldn't describe. With a cruel smile, she pulled, tearing the organ right out of its body. It fell to the floor, whining pitifully, and then it burst into dust. Grabbing her new weapon, Piper looked around, trying to assess the progress of the battle.

Turning to face the satyrs, she spotted Coach Hedge screaming at the top of his lungs, as Mellie floated gently beside him, cradling the small bump in her stomach. She had insisted on coming to help, even if she couldn't be much use on the battlefield.

"All you cupcakes better listen to me, you got five seconds to run, one, two, _five_!" He charged at the line of dracanae, and started bashing them with his club. A ghost of a smile flitted across Piper's lips. Mellie looked absolutely transfixed, while flickering her hand to summon small winds.

Unnoticed, a manticore snuck up behind Mellie. Piper let out a yell of warning, and she spun daintily around, preparing to give the monster a piece of her mind. Coach Hedge got there first. He pounded Dr. Thorn to the ground, giving him a few good lashes on the head. The manticore was unprepared for such an abrupt attack, and there was no room for him to aim and shoot his deadly weapons. Only one poisonous spike had imbedded itself in Coach's elbow, but he appeared not to notice. Fondness for Coach Hedge welled up in Piper, and she had to suppress a smile.

"No one touches her." Coach snarled, in such a dangerous tone that the monster seemed to shudder, his angry yellow eyes glaring. Mellie spotted Piper, and gave her a slightly mortified glance, than put a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Fine," he muttered. "I'll still kill you though," he added in a whisper when he thought Mellie wasn't listening. He gave the manticore one last whack on the head, and Dr. Thorn fell into unconsciousness. Even from ten meters away, Piper heard the breathtaking _crack_. Mellie made shooing motions at his remains, urging the winds to sweep him away.

She then spotted Annabeth and Percy fighting back-to-back, still a bit frail from Tartarus, but otherwise full of energy and adrenaline. Instead of Percy supporting Annabeth, they now seemed to be supporting one another. They advanced on a horde of monsters, yelling defiance. Grover was playing on his… recorder? No, flute. The weeds and wildlife obeyed his command and inflicted both minor and major damage on the army. Hazel was fighting with her _spatha_ and summoning gems to hurl at the monsters that shrieked in pain as they made contact. Frank was next to her, a rabid, charging bull. Good Frank, Piper thought, her lips quirking in a small grin.

Jason, her Jason with his funny scars and ruffled blonde hair was shouting profanity at several hellhounds as he summoned lightning from above to electrocute them.

She bit her lip, drawing blood, and once again looked for a potential opponent. From behind her, the tip of a blade cut the side of her neck, and Piper spun around, glowering. Her attacker had braided regal hair, and looked Persian. Her eyes shone with thinly concealed arrogance, and she looked imposingly down on Piper. Her skin had a coppery look to them, her face sun kissed, and she stood with an air of nobility, though wearing black sneakers and a gray t-shirt. Not very sensible with the sun beating down, Piper thought, glaring spitefully at her.

She didn't flinch.

Glaring back in return, she looked absolutely murderous. Piper felt some of her original confidence drain away. The girl's skin glowed with natural beauty, and she looked energized, like she had not been fighting at all. She redrew her blade and slashed at Piper. She confidently deflected the shot, but it took some effort, and to Piper's surprise she found hidden force behind the blow.

At her stunned expression, the girl analyzed Piper's face, studying it carefully. Her eyes narrowed as if choosing a strategy from Piper's weaknesses. She started to attack, slashing mercilessly. Two or three times her knife was dangerously close to Piper's throat. Two or three times Piper was dangerously close to hers'. Distinctive black eyes were locked on hers, taking glances at the blades every few seconds. Eyes glinting, the girl suddenly stopped fighting, holding Piper's dagger at a freeze point. The girl's breathing evened, while Piper's grew ragged and desperate. Her eyes shone like sizzling volcanic rock in an ocean of magma.

She struggled against the girl's brute force, her muscles screaming. Her opponent's eyes widened in satisfaction and Piper narrowed hers. It looked like she wasn't even at her full extent of power! With an angry yell, she detangled her knife and launched herself at her opponent, hoping to be able to sink Katoptris into flesh. Instead, the girl dodged, snaking her way around her; she landed on the floor in an undignified pile, on her backside. Great.Piper thought gloomily as blood trickled from her brow.

And before Piper could recover, the girl lunged, placing her knee on her chest and looking at her with surprisingly fierce glowing eyes. Her silky black hair framed her face, and she looked at Piper with grudging respect.

What the girl did next surprised her, filled her with gratitude but also irritation. It was a debt she could never repay. She remorsefully lifted her knee off Piper's chest, upturning the corners of her lips in an attempt of a smile.

"Apologies." Piper tried to disintegrate her with her eyes. The girl had a strange accent. Simply her voice made Piper want to do as she commanded, as if she expected unwavering loyalty pledged to her. Piper briefly wondered if this was what monsters felt like when they were entranced by her charmspeak.

"I am given o-orders." She added, seeming to struggle with the word. "Thou are skilled." To Piper's horror and surprise, her eyes ignited. A translucent black fire dilated her pupils, pulsing and glowing. She murmured a few words and pressed her index finger on Piper's forehead.

She put three fingers near her heart and made a claw symbol- a ward against evil. She muttered: "Chaos." Her hand caught fire. She sent a small but significant fireball towards the sky.

Piper felt something burn through her body, sending little tremors and sparks, which she coughed up. By the time she had been relieved of pressure, Princess was gone- melted into the air like water vapor. Probably a daughter of Hades we were not aware of, Piper thought unsurely. The train of thought came to her distantly, like a thought she couldn't quite place.

Piper snapped out of her trance. The world still seemed out of color and shadowed.

"What the hell was that for?" She screamed. Piper felt the ground tremble.

"What is the matter with you?" She jumped at the sound. Nico was standing behind her, his arms folded disapprovingly across his chest. Warily, Piper turned to face him, the world still spinning in three dimensions. He glowered at her, and she glared right back.

"It's not like I did anything wrong!" She defended herself. "I just… just..." Piper felt dizzy and propped her hands on her knees.

"It doesn't matter," she muttered. "It's not important."

Nico frowned and placed one of his cold hands on her forehead, only to gasp and drag it away quickly. Frowning, she met his gaze, and noticed there was caution in his eyes. Piper spun tiredly around, her sword firm despite her trembling limbs. But there was nothing. Piper turned back to face him. By the time she did, he seemed to have recovered from his worry.

"They're black." Nico said. It was as if his cold exterior wall had been rebuilt again. Piper frowned.

"What?" She must have been visibly confused, because he restated his sentence.

"Your eyes are on fire." He glared; a hint of his old self seemed to be overshadowing the former.

Piper looked at him, judging his expression. It was void of almost any emotion. She didn't feel like Nico had a sense of humor, but in the middle of a battle, _now_ was the time to bring it up? Piper rolled her eyes and smiled teasingly at him.

"Nico, if this wasn't a battle, I would tell you that there's a flying chicken with a pig's tail trying to eat your arm."

He seemed to sense her sarcasm. "No joke," he said deathly calm. A hellhound nearly pounced on him, but Piper shoved him out of the way. He melted into the roars and yells of the army.

She faced the hellhound in bitter fury. Your brother killed Lacy, was all she could think as she stuck her dagger straight ahead. The monster impaled itself on the blade. Dusting off her knife, Piper groaned as she clutched her head in sudden bout of agony. The world started spinning once more as she fell of to the side and collapsed to the ground.

Piper raised a trembling hand and looked into Katoptris. Instantly, she recoiled at her reflection. Her eye sockets were filled with black fire, deep translucent black, and she had to stop herself from screaming out loud. As it was, Piper had scrambled back a few steps. She could still see her black pupils, but they were hidden behind the translucent flame. Though the world was still rotating slightly, Piper managed to see a clear reflection.

Too soon, she heard a menacing snarl behind her, and turned around, flipping her parazonium quickly back into her fencer's grip and facing the new challenge. As soon as the next hellhound saw her eyes, it raced away howling in terror, tail between its legs.

My eyes are _that_ creepy? She thought questioningly.

Chasing the retreating monster, Piper tripped and rammed into an exhausted Annabeth, who looked about to gut her until she realized who she was. She gave Piper a thumbs up and a bored glance: _your-eyes-are-on-fire-oh-well-I've-seen-weirder_.

Piper went back to chasing the hellhound, meanwhile knocking down dracanae and stabbing a Laistrygonian Giant in the foot. She would've thought it felt like a pinprick, but the giant howled angrily, and toppled off balance, falling with a crash. As it roared, it let out a huff of icy breath. Kampé's tail froze like an ice cube, causing her to let out a snarl of frustration, clawing desperately at the ice as it made her immobile. It was too heavy for Kampé to move, so it acted like some kind of demented leash.

Laughing hysterically at what she'd done, she caught up and sliced the hellhound in the stomach. The blood flowed heavily, and Piper knew that it wouldn't live. She didn't bother to stop it as it fled. She was breathing heavily, the adrenaline of the chase catching up to her.

She blew the dust off her knife before slowly going to find the others. They were fighting off several monsters at a time, and Piper's heart again leapt in worry for my friends. She spotted Jason finishing off the Laistrygonian Giant and Leo rapidly summoning food from his tool belt; stuffing them down each monster's throat. Piper let out a strangled, mutilated laugh, her voice box raspy from the smoke. Leo shot a wall of fire at a few hellhounds, and they exploded, leaving behind a ghastly smell, and raining gold dust. He looked as if he was going to write 'Hot Stuff' and 'Team Leo' on his shirt again. Piper grinned at the thought.

Hazel had stopped fighting with her _spatha_ , and was using all of her metal resources to their full extent. She pelted the army with gold and diamonds from deep within the battlefield. Cries of agony came from the monsters as they touched the precious jewelry. However, Piper didn't have more than a few seconds to marvel at the pure genius of Annabeth's strategy, because suddenly the world seemed to be going in and out of focus.

For the second time that day she sank to the ground clutching her head as she tried to will away the pain. After a few minutes, when she stood shakily back up, Piper realized that everything was blurry and crackling. Even Frank the lion looked like a broken television player.

The world started rotating once more and she shivered uncontrollably. The shape outlines turned fuzzy, and her mind grasped at basic shapes uneasily. Piper felt dizzy and confused. Her sanity faded away, and she felt completely calm and at peace.

Standing up, she walked determinedly to Percy and helped him up, supporting his bodyweight against hers. Annabeth shot her a shocked look, but Piper ignored her and gently pressed her hand to his head as to relieve the pain as she had done for herself earlier.

He stood up and looked at her curiously, but never letting go of her hand. And then they both collapsed together.

And suddenly, the battle tilted at a sickening angle. Hazel looked around in horror as the monsters she had been fighting had turned in unison to attack two of her best friends.

"What?" She breathed. "What's going on?"

Every monster stalked coldly towards the pair, their glassy, blank eyes spreading panic through the demigod ranks.

The monsters didn't even flinch when some of the demigods struck them down. Instead of turning to dust, they continued walking, sand pouring out of the wounds. In an instant, any injuries they had… were gone.

Waking up drowsily, Piper glanced around in horror, as if realizing for the first time that the battle wasn't a dream.

"Percy! Percy wake up!" She put a little power into her voice. "Percy, please do me a favor and wake up _now_."

He shot up straight, his blurred eyes blinking quickly. "Where am I?" he muttered. "Where's Annabeth?"

She ignored him, dragging herself to her feet. It suddenly dawned on her that Gaea's army was targeting her specifically and Piper's heart thudded even more rapidly against her breastplate. She clutched Katoptris close, resting her hand on her other weapon.

Good lord, Piper thought. Over a hundred monsters and I'm trying to defend myself with a dagger.

"We're doomed." She said aloud. Percy looked like he agreed.

Aphrodite and a few other gods walked calmly towards Piper, as if hoping to help. Arrows shot out of the sand, points of earth, leaf, and metal, binding the goddess to the floor. The arrow pierced through her arms and expanded, keeping her anchored to the ground as golden ichor pooled around her. She screamed in agony and Piper let out a sob of horror.

The earth shook with laughter, no doubt causing tsunamis and a 7.1 on the Richter scale. As if a signal, in the battlefield directly below the Olympians, the same arrows were released, chaining each god to the ground. They impaled legs, arms, even chests, but the gods could not die. They were chained, sinking slowly into the sandy earth.

"No!" Ares yelled, straining to get to Aphrodite, who had passed out from pain.

Aphrodite's golden blonde hair lay strewn on the bloody ground and her face was pale and white. Hestia hissed in frustration, after trying to burn the chain off, emitting light and fire. Artemis forbid her hunters to come near, and Zeus yelled in pain, more than his pride wounded. Poseidon was using hardened water to slowly chip away at his bonds, and taking quick desperate glances at Percy who was trying to help him. Golden blood pooled beneath the demigods' feet.

All the while, the monsters stalked nearer. Fifteen meters. Piper thought warily.

Shakily, Piper drew her sister's sword. She knew that she had had no training whatsoever. But if there were a sharp pointy thing in her reach, the person blocking it would need a god's help to survive the encounter.

Eight meters. She racked her brain and felt Percy's wiry back tense against hers. Five.

Something, anything, she thought desperately.

A thought struck her.

"Gaea…" Piper spoke to the monsters, trying not to let out that she was stalling for time. Piper used the little she knew about the monsters and twisted it into time- time to let Percy figure out a solution while she distracted the primordial. Gaea was living through the creatures.

Think Percy, think, she thought.

And then her minions stopped. Three meters. Piper breathed a mental side of relief. It had worked.

Every single monster hissed. Gaea's voice echoed through their throats, a hoarse rasp. "A stroke of luck, Piper." She coughed weakly, but Piper could tell she was gaining strength.

"I wonder… Are you brave, stupid, or both? Do you wish to die," She coughed again, "the same way as your father?" She heard Aphrodite sob from her bonds, regaining some sort of consciousness.

My father? No, he couldn't be…impossible. She thought, rage flowing through her veins at the barb. Piper tried to find Mellie in the crowd, but she was sobbing into her husband's broad shoulder. Coach Hedge looked unusually grim. Gaea just let out a stronger laugh.

"I killed him." She spat vindictively.

Later, Piper would look back and realize what had made her so angry. She really didn't think that it was the fact that Tristan was dead. While they had many memories together, they were more like… uncle and niece. Tristan… or, _dad,_ as he sometimes insisted, was only there on the most important occasions, such as a funeral, or Christmas.

What made her fury rise was the fact that Gaea said the words like a person would say, 'Ice cream, anyone?' Saying it like it didn't matter. Like it was _unimportant_. Was worth nothing. For Gaea, humans were puny. Humans were mortal. Unlike her, and in her world, that made her superior. Adrenaline built up in Piper. While she only had memories of Tristan when she was younger, that didn't mean she couldn't remember them.

"You-you…" Piper snarled in fury, shaking. "You killed my _father_!"

"Yes…" Gaea hissed.

"I have his blood on my hands. Scared out of his mind he was. He was a _coward._ I see the family traits, no?" She taunted her from afar and the monsters hissed in pleasure at her distress. Piper clutched her head in misery, and another splitting headache made her vision fade to dull, dark colors.

Suddenly, she felt like she was trapped in a bubble- her own personal prison. Almost instantaneously, the bars thickened and widened, and turned from a mild daffodil yellow to a nasty color the looks of a muddy swamp. Piper realized that she was incased in her own mental hell. Gaea's voice snarled from above, echoing in the cavern. Piper knew it wasn't real. She just had to break free.

Images flashed though one side of the box. Like her flat screen TV at home, one of the two she never used. Then the surface of the screen rippled. In split second, she made her decision, diving into the vertical surface. And suddenly…

A chubby baby screamed with joy as her father presented her with her favorite toy, a baby panda called Snow.

A toddler walked for the first time, her nannies cooing with delight.

A five-year-old played Ping-Pong for the first time, crying as she was beaten miserably.

Piper saw different scenes as she progressed though life. I grew up, she thought wistfully. She saw her face go from baby joy and plump pink lips to sad eyes and a strained smile. She sighed, noticing her father's eyes grow darker and more unsure in every scene.

She saw herself surfing with her dad at the tender age of eight, completely failing but having a fun time. After she had wiped out for the fifth time, her dad offered her PBJ, a Piper special.

"It even begins with a P," She remembered him telling her proudly. "P for Piper. Piper for my little girl." And she remembered beaming at him.

Dad was holding out a birthday cake, waiting for her to blow out the candles. It was _horrible_. The cake was crooked, and it's frosting was orange. But that's what made it special. It wasn't one of the fancy bought cakes from the _Paris Baguette_. It was the only one that he had baked. Himself. Piper saw each birthday after that, her father paying special attention to _her_ for once.

Then she approached her final childhood memory- the one she knew was coming, but dreaded the most.

Her eleventh birthday. It was a sign- even if she didn't see it back then. That was when he started coming less and less. Then he stopped coming. Altogether. She remembered her first birthday without him.

Piper had woken up at seven and ran down the stairs as the doorbell rang. She had flung open the door and gotten ready for a hug when… Jane had briskly told her that Piper's father was busy, and wouldn't be able to make it. Piper remembered the feeling of tears rolling down her cheeks as she nodded numbly and fled up the stairs sobbing into her hands.

She had later discovered that her Father had not been busy at all, but had simply forgotten it.

The momentary kept rolling.

Then began her demigod adventures. She paused, looking at her quest with Jason and Leo, her boyfriend's arms tucked gently around her as he lifted them back to the safety of the bridge.

Piper relived the moment when Tristan told her she was a hero. She could count how many times they had spoken since on one hand.

She watched herself come to Hazel's aid in the House of Hades.

And then Piper saw her and Jason locked in an embrace, just sitting there on the deck of the ship, talking about the future. _Their_ future. The prospect made her feel warm and happy inside.

But then slideshow changed, and instead of a scene, Piper was left with a picture, just one. It was of right now. She saw herself frozen and ragged while demigods screamed around her. The scene faded to black, but not before she noticed something. A bloodstained figure appeared in the background, clutching a knife. Tristan McLean faded from the scene. The figure melted into the shadows.

Fury punctured Piper's heart, and she punched the screen. Instead of her hand going through the wall like she expected, the shield obscuring her from the world cracked and shattered.

Coming back to reality, Piper noticed monsters surrounded her, their claws inches from her face. She didn't care. All she could think about was the terrified look on Tristan's face before he had disappeared.

Piper took a look at Percy and realized his eyes were red and puffy, the damp trails of tears running dry. "He killed my mom," he managed to choke out, trembling. From fury or sadness she never found out, because at that moment Gaea gave a victorious cry. And Lady Hestia sank into the ground.

Piper shakily stood up- she hadn't even realized she'd fallen. The box that had incased her was gone, and Piper's eyes were slits of hatred and venom. The gods were chained. The hunters were assisting Artemis, and the campers were either too scared or too arrogant. There was no one to help her.

"If I die… I'll take you with me!" She screamed. Gaea's thundering laugh bellowed across the desert.

No, Piper thought in panic. Where was Zeus?

She saw each of the gods sink a little deeper into the sand. Every monster stepped forward, their eyes still misty, to form a shield. From the army away, Piper saw a figure slowly becoming solid.

Gaea.

Piper hesitated, wondering if she would even have any sway on the army if they were under Gaea.

It was worth a shot, she decided. Trying wouldn't kill anyone.

"Really now," Piper cooed silkily to the army, or at least the ranks left. "You are very good at fighting. Such a _shame_ you have to work for… _their_ side." The army started nodding uneasily, and a Cyclops at the front even tore off his shirt and gave a bellow, flexing his arms. But it barely lasted. In a split second, his arm fell still. He stepped back, into the lines of the army and his eyes took on the glassy look once more. Piper growled in frustration.

"You… you… Ugh!" Piper yelled at the figure. It was still solidifying. The figure clenched her half formed fist, before reliving the tension from it.

"A worthy try, demigod." Gaea's voice echoed in her head. "But it is not enough."

Piper let the words sink in. And then…

Anger. That was all she felt.

She murdered my father. Piper thought. She chains my mother. She hurts my friends. And _no one_ hurts my friends. And after _all_ this, she can't even address me by my _name_? Is that too much to _ask_?

She felt the adrenaline that pumped through her veins and exchanged a glance with Percy, ready to go out fighting. That's when she realized how Gaea _wanted_ her to feel. She _wanted_ Piper to be reckless, trying to attack the swarm of her minions. The monsters still had not moved.

Gaea _wanted_ Piper to attack. She would be playing into her hands. She was baiting her to do the inevitable. Piper grit her teeth.

Tough luck, she thought, giving Percy the signal not to move. Gaea clenched her fist again.

Then Piper's grip tightened on Lacy's sword and she held her sword threateningly in Gaea's direction.

A smirk adorned her face. She was going to die with _style_.

Her mind turned to her survival instinct. She selected all possibilities that could end in her possible survival. The result? 0. Then she thought harder, desperate for something- anything that she could use to _maim_ Gaea.

And if Piper died in the process, well. It was a sacrifice she was willing to pay.

Piper wasn't foolish enough to think she and Percy could kill Gaea on their own; their best hope was to injure her and make it easier for the remaining six to kill her. After almost a minute of her silent thinking, Gaea was running out of patience.

"Demigod," she cooed mockingly. "Come out, come out wherever you are."

And suddenly a memory struck Piper. The girl… the girl in the battle! Didn't she use fire? And fire was an element of it's own, probably something that Gaea had no control over. Piper tried to remember what she did.

She slowly but instinctively made a gesture with her hand like a claw. Gaea's figure was almost fully formed now.

I want to cause a diversion, Piper thought desperately. Absolute and utter -

"Chaos," she whispered.

Blinding black-hot fire shot from the end of her fingertips, disintegrating the first line of monsters. The figure looked at Piper in sudden horror. The battlefield was dead silent. Piper stared with complete and utter astonishment at the end of her fingers.

Gaea's voice turned shrill with fear. The figure turned to face the opposite direction, as if shielding itself. The monsters shuffled back slightly.

Gaea exploded in frustration, before piecing herself back together again, bits of earth and vine coming together to weave an intricate dress.

"What game are you playing at?" Mother Earth shrieked. "Stop this! _The fates forbid you to interfere_!"

Piper ignored her. She had the feeling Gaea wasn't talking about her. Hesitantly making the claw sign again, Piper lashed out at the flinching monsters, muttering 'Chaos' as she did so. The effect was instantaneous. Piper relished the feeling as the flames once again burned them, sending the second line of the enemy to Tartarus.

 _Damn straight._ She thought proudly, looking at all the piles of dust she had made. Ten down, infinite to go.

The monsters hesitated, looking like they either wanted to run or go to the bathroom. Possibly both, Piper thought with a grimace as she caught a faint smell of urine coming from the monsters.

"It doesn't matter," Gaea snarled. "We will not lose! Not again!" She unleashed a powerful earthquake and everyone suddenly looked to see if Poseidon was still there.

And while she saw him immediately, she quickly counted the Olympians and realized two were missing.

Athena and Artemis were gone. Only the top of Demeter's head was visible. No, please no…

And there was a scream, a terrible scream, as Gaea's mouth opened and closed. But the sound being emitted… there was no possibility that it came from the primordial. It was too filled with such excruciation; nothing could cause such a powerful being so much pain. Gaea scrambled out of the projection and paled as she recognized the mark on the ground, and immediately looked up at the cause of the shadow.

A black symbol emerged from the clouds, a flickering hologram that cast an elegant shadow, stretching over Gaea's entire army who moaned in pain as they got burned with each touch. Piper gaped in awe, realizing for the first time that the symbol had come out of a black hole. No one had control over black holes… they were infinite. Yet the sign never faltered as words pixelated in the hologram.

 _Harm them and I swear on life itself that I will end your pathetic existence._

Gaea's voice trembled.

"You have _more_ than the _one_?" She seemed to gather her emotions and stood up proudly.

"I see now. I wondered why you chose _her_ out of all people… Very well, Auntie," Gaea snarled, regaining her confidence. "I simply will have an even more _powerful_ blood sacrifice! You're _chosen_ ones!"

She stared vindictively at the sky.

"I hope you enjoy seeing your last hope for peace ripped apart shred by shred."

The sky darkened, and instead of holograms, the black hole spat out four words very solid words.

 _You've sealed your fate._

And the monsters charged. Quickly, Piper put her hand on her heart, feeling as if she had done it a million times. She thought about all of the memories she had seen, the happy and the horrid. Piper thought about Tristan, her friends, and even Jane in a positive light, something she had never been able to do before. She closed her eyes.

Piper thought of Hazel, the girl that she loved like a sister, of Annabeth, the de facto leader of the quest. She thought of Percy, who'd saved her life on countless occasions, Jason, the love of her life, Leo, her first _real_ friend, and finally Frank, who had defended her at all costs.

The seven.

Once again, Piper made the claw over her heart. She used both hands; held them out in front of her like a shield.

"Chaos!" She screamed as sparks flew over her head and a swirling black wind whipped around not only Piper, but Percy too.

Acrid fire exploded from my palms, with far more intensity then even Leo, the first fire user in a century.

After a few minutes, Piper started to panic. The fire raged strong still, but she knew it would come to a halt. She couldn't do this forever, and already the fire seemed to be sapping her energy.

The monsters had been stupidly raising their weapons, which had later been melted into puddles, and charging straight at the wall of fire, as if hoping to break it. They, obviously, had been burned, and their essence was swept away by a nervous Mellie. She had Coach Hedge at her side, glaring at the monsters and swinging his bat aggressively over his head.

"I'd like to see you try, cupcakes!" He yelled. He glared at one particular monster.

"Yeah that's right. Just one step closer…"

But Piper was losing strength quickly.

"Percy!" she gasped.

"Pipes, how are you doing that?" He breathed, looking at the flames in awe.

"I don't know!" She rambled, tears forming in her eyes from the effort of keeping the fire going. "There was this person with fire eyes! And she just said Chaos, and then there was black fire, and I tried it and- and…"

His eyes widened. "F-fire eyes…?"

Then he looked at Piper determinedly, making the claw sign and -

"Chaos!" He bellowed. The sparks and power grew in intensity as they both started to pant for air as they felt something compress on the chests.

They both shared a look and Percy made a signal with his foot that the crew had invented together, to use if their arms were tied.

It meant attack with _everything_. She gave a tiny nod.

And with all her strength, Piper pushed her hands as far away from her body as they would go, forgetting all of the happy thoughts she had had.

Turning around to look at Percy, she saw his eyes pulsing a deep glowing green, as the fire grew larger and more powerful. The fire that shot out of his calloused hands was tinted the same color, and when Piper looked at her own fire, she saw pink streaks intertwined in the magical flame.

The fire spread in a circle, and they emitted a pulsing aura so strong that they themselves felt it. Her feet felt as light as air, and looking down, she realized she was floating several feet off the ground, and away from the surface that was Gaea. A colossal force of power shot into the monsters, each of them letting out a scream of agony, before disintegrating slowly, one limb at a time.

The fire diminished.

The silence was horrible.

No one moved, with the exception of the gods, who inhaled oxygen as parts of the earth disintegrated, revealing the gods trapped in the holes Gaea had put them in.

Piper saw Hazel and Nico gasp at the number of deaths they had caused. Somehow, for a son of Hades, the latter somehow managed to turn a shade paler.

So guilty… She thought miserably. She felt awful.

The exhilarating result seemed to overwhelm her mind and in an instant, she was falling at the speed of sound and hit the ground with the force of a meteorite. Piper was exhausted, and the fall had knocked the wind out of her. Without a second thought, she succumbed to the darkness and let go of consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

Piper heard jumbled words. Steadily getting louder, the speaker seemed distant, unaware. She had a throbbing headache and her leg felt numb. Warm fingers brushed the tip of Piper's nose.

"She's stirring."

Piper's lips twitched ever so lightly. Annabeth had a stern sort of voice, a voice that seemed to tell a person, "Kill the spider or else."

"Really? I thought they said another few days." Hazel whispered.

Piper yawned, only now registering the pain that ached in her jaw. She strained her ears for the smallest sounds, clinging to the hope that Jason's quiet footsteps would approach.

Nope, Piper thought glumly. Nothing.

Pretending she hadn't been eavesdropping, Piper blearily blinked the sleep from her eyes, trying to focus on anything besides her migraine. She found Hazel on her left supporting her injured leg and tracing patterns of stars on her cheek.

Her friend seemed to sink into herself as Annabeth discussed what she would have changed in battle tactics. From Hazel's exasperated expression, it must have been at least the fourth time.

"I mean," Annabeth said, "if I'd known that the monsters would be invulnerable, I would have asked the Hephaestus cabin to build a defence mechanism that would have enclosed each demigod in a ring of steel that would have..."

Annabeth trailed off as Piper announced her presence, lifting one arm with great effort and nudging her nearest friend.

Hazel tentatively offered Piper a cup of water.

Piper downed the glass and felt a surge of relief. Coughing, she swallowed a few times, trying to get her throat used to the moisture. She scanned her surroundings and blinked in surprise when she recognised the infirmary.

Annabeth smiled tightly at Piper, speaking briskly as if she was trying to force the words out of her mouth. Piper was taken aback at her tone as Annabeth avoided her eyes, preferring to stare at the floor instead.

"Good morning, Piper. Do you want a review as well?" She asked. Piper wasn't rude enough to say no.

"The monsters, they targeted you," Annabeth began, while Hazel glowered at Piper. "They left their fights instantly, as if controlled. Similar to charmspeak, their eyes were unfocused and glassy. It was unnerving, but as the horde of monsters came, you levitated and fired black fire out of our palms."

Her smile became even bitterer, and she spoke more rapidly, her eyes darting from the floor to Piper's face.

"Percy then joined you. You both let out a blinding flame halo and it was like a circle expanding that evaporated all of the monsters." Annabeth seemed calm, but her hands betrayed her, twitching as she tried to unclench her fists.

Used to Annabeth's jealous nature, Piper sighed to herself as she continued to listen to Annabeth's review of what had happened. Her eyes flitted to the ceiling and she started counting the number of tiles.

One, she thought. Two, three, four…

"And you killed some demigods too," Annabeth said after a few minutes of mindless speaking. "Some of my brothers and sisters."

Piper realized Annabeth was looking at her in a guarded way, her body language no longer betraying her emotions. Piper's own hands were knotted in fury underneath the covers, but she plastered on a remorseful look.

Those demigods were traitors, she thought. They were working for Gaea. Why shouldn't they die when they've caused so much death themselves?

"Er, yes," Hazel added worriedly, as if finally noticing the tension, "I am sure she's very sorry for the destruction, Annabeth, but Piper - we've got to tell you - we don't think it's over -"

Her voice was suddenly muffled, and Piper craned her neck to see Annabeth holding her hand up to Hazel's mouth and smiling sheepishly. She removed her palm and gave Hazel a sharp glance.

Hazel looked at Annabeth confusedly.

"But I thought we were going to tell her-"

"That Gaea was going back to sleep," Annabeth cut her off. "We completely diminished her forces." Piper forced herself to smile and nod along with Annabeth.

There's something wrong, Piper thought desperately, reaching out with her powers. This can't be Annabeth.

Hazel attempted to hug Piper, smiling. She inwardly cringed as Hazel's fingers connected with her ribcage. The throbbing in her chest increased tenfold as Piper struggled with the temptation to tell Hazel it hurt.

"We missed you." she said, her voice brimming with honesty.

Piper gave her first real smile. It abruptly faded as she heard Percy stir from a few beds away and saw the state of his body.

How had no one treated that? She thought, wide eyed. Why hadn't he had ambrosia?

His nose looked bloody and broken, and from what she could see, he had a dislocated shoulder. A rib was poking out of his skin, and one of his ears was split open, top to bottom. She shuddered and tentatively felt her own ears, trying to confirm that they were still there.

The sheets covered his legs, and Piper shuddered as she wondered what other injuries had been dealt out to him. With a determined look, Annabeth ran over to him, doing little things, like checking his pulse and thermometer.

Young love, Piper thought, her eyes twinkling. I guess being a daughter of Aphrodite isn't all bad.

"So, Hazel," She said, trying not to show her confliction. Hazel smiled cheekily, a look of innocence making her gold eyes sparkle.

"Yes?" She inquired.

The pounding in Piper's skull intensified and she quickly lay back down on her pillow. As Piper looked upwards, she saw that the bags under Hazel's eyes had become more prominent, and her eyelashes seemed to be blinking away tears.

"Why are you crying?" She asked gently, changing her question. She shook her head at Piper, blinking even harder, as her pupils ran from Annabeth back to Piper uncertainly.

"It's nothing," Hazel replied mildly, but she had an undertone of warning in her voice.

Piper sighed, even though it made her chest ache. To anyone else, it would have looked perfectly natural, but Piper had bunked with Hazel for three years. She definitely knew when the littler girl was lying- or at least stretching the truth.

Piper looked into her crisp gold eyes and wondered what her friend was thinking, desperately wanting to help. Hazel's eyes hardened as Piper looked away.

Footsteps approached and Hazel hesitated.

"Annabeth's coming," Hazel hissed finally, a second from Annabeth's arrival. "Zip it."

Piper closed her mouth, biting back the retort that threatened to spill out.

Annabeth had stopped watching over Percy and approached them. Hazel looked tense for a second, then adjusted her stance to look more natural.

"I'm just tired, Pipes," Hazel grumbled, reenacting the scene they had just been in.

Jason called her that too, she suddenly remembered. _Pipes_. Once again, she was reminded of her boyfriend, with his cute staple scar and dimples.

"Hey, have you guys seen Jason? Where is he?" She asked.

Annabeth shrugged carelessly.

"I don't know, and it honestly doesn't matter." She said, seeming to take some vindictive pleasure in her nonchalant voice.

Piper looked worried.

"Is he alright?" she fretted. "He's not hurt is he?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but he is definitely alive," Hazel said unhelpfully.

Confused at their coldness, Piper tried to stretch out the kinks in her back, feeling the need to find her boyfriend.

Piper bent her neck, feeling a crack every few turns. Sighing, Piper looked around with her newfound motion and saw that she was wearing a white hospital gown. It contrasted so brightly against her tanned skin that she had to blink a couple times to get the shape in focus.

Struggling to move, she turned to her friends to ask for another glass of water, when she realized that she hadn't even noticed their clothing. While Piper didn't like it, it had always been her second nature to analyse her friend's outfits' and give them advice.

About a minute later, she was nodding thoughtfully at their choices, and thinking about how their styles had changed from the Argo II.

Hazel was dressed in ordinary blue skinny jeans, with the usual Camp Half Blood tee. Piper had to admit it complimented her tanned skin well. For the first time she noticed that Hazel's eyes were more guarded than they were before, even to Piper. She wore a silver headband, sandals and ribbon, keeping her fluffy chocolate hair out of her face. She also had a pendant with a crystal moon, which reflected the rays of light that were caught in it.

Her wiry arms made her SPQR burn seem darker against her skin, as if showing that she wasn't just a pretty face. She had cover-up under her eyes, but Piper still noticed the bags she tried to keep hidden. She also saw that Hazel's eyeliner was slightly smeared.

Did it have anything to do with the other issue? Maybe I shouldn't have pressed her. Piper thought guiltily.

Meanwhile, Annabeth was dressed in a white blouse with a grey owl reading a book and ripped jean shorts.

Why not a Camp Half Blood shirt? Piper wondered confusedly. Since when did Annabeth start wearing jewelry and makeup?

Hazel, she could understand, but Annabeth? Annabeth - 'The shortness of that skirt is preposterous' - Chase wearing an equally, if not more skimpy top? A few months ago, the idea would have been ridiculous.

The girl in question was wearing grey sneakers as well. She was adorned in a grey pearl necklace and about three different bracelets. Annabeth was wearing silver eyeliner and slight blue eye shadow, defining her gray pupils. She even wore an anklet, with a silver moon embroidered on it.

"Is there something wrong?" Annabeth asked, an eyebrow arched aristocratically. "I don't have anything on my face, do I?"

"Of course not," Piper said, feeling uncomfortable. Perhaps Annabeth was not a complete tomboy, and just let her inner female free after the war. Putting her thoughts aside for now, Piper tried to sit up, but ultimately failed.

Annabeth stood and walked over to help her, and Piper leaned on her heavily. She dragged her burning leg out of the covers but felt faint when she saw her kneecap.

The largest bandage Piper had ever seen stretched from her thigh to her ankle, but what made it horrendus were the jagged stitches across the wound and poor workmanship done with it. Pus gathered at the edges of the slash, and Annabeth looked at the ceiling in revulsion.

Piper felt disgusted with herself too. How could I let myself get that? She inwardly cried.

 _For the first time in her life, Piper felt ugly._

It wasn't an epiphany, like she had hoped when she'd been younger, but a sort of dull ache.

Will Jason still love me when he sees the scars? She asked herself, feeling a lump form in her throat.

 _Yes,_ she thought desperately. He _has_ to. Right?

Hazel saw her expression and sent her a sympathetic look. She then gently took Piper's left arm while Annabeth grabbed her right.

Piper knew the longer it took to get out of bed, the more painful it would be. She used her arms and pushed as hard as she could, lifting herself up off the bed and sinking exhaustedly to the ground. Piper had beads of sweat on her face as black spots emerged threateningly at the edges of her vision.

The burning in her collarbone and leg increased, and she felt nausea rise in her throat. Her headache started to feel as if a sledgehammer was pounding her skull in every heartbeat. Piper's left foot twisted awkwardly as it twitched uselessly an inch from the floor. Limping and using her friends as support, she dragged herself to the entrance of the infirmary.

Piper grit her teeth and prepared to set her foot down, knowing that it would be the worst part of walking, but was unprepared for the intense agony. The moment her ankle connected to the ground the feeling of absolute excruciation overcame her. It took all her energy to just wait it out.

Eventually, the pain lessened, and Piper was able to take her first step into the sunlight.

Any voices that were talking, stopped. Within exclamations of disbelief, Piper managed to make out a few phrases. It seemed that no one was pleased to see her. Trying to hide her hurt, Piper let her matted hair hang in front of her face, as if it could shield her from their judgment.

Blinking intensely, Piper looked at the ground, blocking her ears, and suddenly longing for the comforting darkness. The light seared her pupils and eventually, she just closed her eyes, letting her friends guide her.

Barely five steps later, she felt the salty tang of blood on her lips and opened her eyes a fraction. Piper nudged Hazel with her head to alert her.

"Annabeth," she said hushed. "Piper's bleeding."

Annabeth's grip on her shoulders tightened. The two girls picked Piper up and simply carried her the rest of the way. Humiliation set in and Piper looked self consciously at the scars across her arms, holding her head in her hands. Setting her gently on the couch, Hazel looked for the first aid kit while Annabeth walked up the stairs to find Chiron.

Piper lay weakly on the mattress, before realizing there was a long trail of red splatter leading from the infirmary to the big house. Piper could see the feather in her braided hair a mess, clogged with blood and grease.

She faintly heard Chiron in the background of the blurry landscape, barking orders, and Piper felt her migraine descend into agony.

After regaining her breath, Piper saw campers start to gather at the edge of the big house, looking at Chiron questioningly. He shook his head slightly, and they relaxed. A few of them sheathed their weapons.

The centaur turned to look at her with an expression of concern, but for the first time, Piper noticed how generic it looked.

"I'm fine, Chiron." She said gruffly, answering his unspoken question.

He nodded gravely.

Piper couldn't meet his gaze.

"Why didn't you give me ambrosia?" She managed to say.

Her voice came out colder than she had intended. The ice in her voice hadn't been specifically directed at Chiron, but he took offence just the same. Her hand crept higher, where is stayed, perfectly positioned, on Katoptris.

"Don't be rash," he said sternly. "I know you feel intimidated, and I know I would be too, but-"

Piper let out a raspy laugh.

"Intimidated? By what?" She challenged. "What opponent would be stupid enough to brag, 'Oh, I beat one of the seven, while she was crippled, bleeding, and ill?' Would that make the poor, bruised egos in camp feel better?"

Chiron looked slightly ashamed, but met her gaze coolly.

"I don't believe so, Piper," He said.

He better be sorry, Piper thought. Drawing her lips back in a snarl, she glowered at the campers defensively.

"Dumpster queen is on a roll," Drew sneered, drawing Piper's gaze to her. The crowd muttered some more, seemingly agreeing with her. Piper tried to ignore the whispers for as long as she could, but her skin had started tingling with fury. She waited a few seconds before her headache exploded and any tolerance she might have had died instantly.

" _Shut up_!" She shrieked, her voice echoing across the cabins. The gathering demigods fell silent. Piper couldn't tell if it was the charmspeak or if they had just never heard her talk so angrily. Then she felt rage burning in her eyes and realized what had happened.

I still have the black fire, Piper thought, unamused. She made the claw symbol around her heart and whispered the word, making her hand light up. She let the flame flicker in her palm as a warning to the campers before smothering the flame.

"Don't come any nearer," Piper growled. "I don't trust you, any of you."

Chiron looked alarmed, and Piper had to stop herself from painfully turning around. She knew she'd attracted a crowd, but the fact that they were all ignoring her and giving her cold looks was yet another mystery. Piper frowned distrustfully at Chiron for a moment; though she knew it was entirely the Gods' faults. She needed someone to blame, and unfortunately, Chiron was the first person on her, admittedly, very long list.

"At the very least, I need some ambrosia," Piper muttered, almost regretting having lost her temper.

Annabeth and a few of the campers fidgeted uncomfortably.

"There are some things we need to discuss," Chiron said gently, helping her up.

Eventually, after Chiron had calmed the campers down, he placed a soft hand on Piper's uninjured shoulder and guided her towards the back of the room. Annabeth and Hazel followed them wearily.

Piper looked around the room and was surprised to see a large pile of letters on the floor. Annabeth looked even more nervous and kicked a few to the side as she made a path around the clutter.

"I am sorry for the … unfortunate incidents, and hopefully this will clear things up for you-"

"It better," Piper interrupted softly, meeting Chiron's gaze.

"What's that?" He asked, his eyebrows raised in annoyance.

"You heard me," Piper snapped. "I want answers - now."

"Then ask," he said irritably, his tail flicking from side to side.

She looked at him closely, looking for a hint of truth. After inspecting Chiron for a minute, she finally growled out:

"Why do the campers want me dead?"

The centaur's face whitened, and the hollows in his eyes became more pronounced. His hoof tapped out the floor frantically, as if the demigods weren't the only ones with ADHD.

"What?" He asked, losing his arrogance. "Why would you say that?"

Piper turned her head slowly to meet his gaze and cocked her head to the right.

"I discovered a new power recently." She said, her eyes narrowed in spite. "It shows the level of hostility of people towards me."

Despite being calm, Piper could feel her heart start to beat faster and faster. She bit her cheek so hard that she tasted blood and her mouth parted in an expression of loathing.

"A few of their levels…" Piper let out a sadistic smile, "I don't know why I let them live. As soon as I'm healed..."

She drew a finger across her neck.

"Maybe you did it wrong? You never know..." He muttered.

"Don't give me that," she spat. "Haven't you heard what I've been saying? I can _feel_ it. They hate me, and I don't know what I did! In fact, I saved their sorry arses from Gaea!"

Chiron winced at her tone, and put on his best mature adult face.

"Are you sure-" He began. She seemed to glow in quiet fury.

"And you know the worst part?" Piper whispered, her voice suddenly jagged with grief.

She drew back her arm and flung Katoptris, purposely letting the dagger penetrate the wall an inch from Annabeth's face. They grey eyed girl shook with anger.

"One of my best friends, one who I trust with my _life_ ," Piper let out a choked laugh, tears running down her face, "would like nothing more than to slit my throat."

There was a moment of silence.

Then Hazel recoiled from Annabeth, shaking as tears started to pool in her eyes.

" _You said_!" Hazel screeched. "You said you were acting! You said you wouldn't do it!"

Hazel trembled, the tears now streaming down her cheeks. "You're really going to do it…" she breathed. "You're going to… you're going to…"

She paled so much she looked like a ghost. "You lied to me." she said faintly. "You… you fucking _lied_ to me!"

Hazel reached up and slapped Annabeth as hard as she could, the crack echoing across the room. The jarring red handprint drew Annabeth out of her stupor. Her eyes narrowing, she unsheathed her knife and advanced on Hazel.

"Fight fair Annabeth!" Piper screamed, Chiron standing between her and her friend. Hazel wasn't even armed.

"Stop!" The centaur yelled, banging his hoof on the ground. "Don't you see? This is what Gaea wants! To descend into war amongst ourselves!"

Annabeth hesitated, and then her eyes hardened.

"You're right," she said coldly. "It isn't worth it anyway."

She stood down and stepped away from a sobbing Hazel who had curled up into a ball and was rocking back and forth. Before she could move, a hand was firmly around her throat. Piper struggled not to breathe too deeply.

Chiron ignored her, approaching Piper. She strained to get to Hazel, but it was in vain, as she was to injured to put up a fight.

He held up his hand, and Piper stopped struggling against Annabeth's chokehold.

"I am here to answer your questions. Nothing more, nothing less."

Annabeth lightened the pressure on her throat just long enough for her to ask the question.

"Where is Jason?" She stammered, her question coming in short breaks. Annabeth smiled cruelly as she tightened her grip with every word.

"He is in Camp Jupiter," Chiron said mildly.

"H-has he visited?" The centaur raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." He said. Piper sighed in relief.

"Once." Tears leaked out of her eyes as her mentor smiled, mocking her. They were enjoying this.

"Why wasn't I given ambrosia?" She managed to gasp.

Chiron regarded her with an amused expression. "We did."

"Lies," Piper choked, her tears overflowing again. "All lies."

"No," Chiron said firmly, the grin falling off his face. "It is the truth. Thalia had to shock you to keep you alive. Your heart stopped beating the second it went into your mouth."

Piper sucked in air in short breaths, trying to keep the room from spinning. She repeated his sentence again and again, mumbling the words to herself. There was something missing.

As she blinked, an echo of something appeared in her mind. Flashing, like a radio without signal.

A girl. Black hair. Chains.

Darkness.

Piper blinked again, desperately looking for something. Anything. Another shake of her head, and the girl looked up. Blue eyes.

Thalia.

Piper twisted in Annabeth's grip, writhing in agony.

"Thalia," Piper moaned. "Please. Not Thalia."

Chiron looked up in disinterest.

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"What have you done with her?" Piper asked brokenly, ignoring her struggle to breathe. "That's Jace's sister! That's Jace's _full blooded sister_! _What kind of monsters are you?"_

Chiron looked angry for a second, before his expression evened.

"Thalia is with the hunters." He said icily. "Artemis had a mission for her and her sisters to complete."

It was a lie. So many lies. Piper felt this conversation could drag on for hours. Drowning in lies. She could see the contempt in his eyes. Chiron thought she was weak. Worthless.

And in that moment, she _was_.

"Tell me," she begged, almost collapsing. Piper gagged, her throat constricting as Annabeth's grip tightened. She spat a mouthful of blood on the floor.

"I am telling the truth, child."

Chiron smiled, but this time, didn't even bother to make it look real. He bared his teeth menacingly.

Piper turned to Annabeth.

"This… this is how you repay Luke?" She managed to get out, before a hand hit her head and everything went black.

When Piper next awoke, Hazel was delicately sitting on the mattress next to her. After tucking the covers over her injured leg she gently washed the blood out of Piper's hair.

"Hey Pipes," Hazel whispered, barely looking down at her. She hesitated.

"I… we need you to pretend to be asleep for the next few days."

"Who," Piper growled, instantly suspicious. " _You_ , or Annabeth?"

"Shh!" Hazel hissed.

She looked around frantically. A blinking red light shone in the corner.

A camera.

Hazel busied herself around Piper, pretending to check her temperature again.

"The people who are trying to keep you alive," Hazel breathed quietly into her ear. "You know I'd never let you die."

Piper closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to find Hazel's aura. It was more difficult with the children of Hades that with any other demigod, and she had never tried to read Hazel's intentions before.

When she got to the wall that Hazel had built to keep away her aura, a black door appeared for her. Hazel's large trusting eyes crinkled at the corners, as if she was smiling without a mouth.

Wandering in the barriers of her mind, Piper knew it was the truth. Hazel was trying to protect her.

Piper didn't open her eyes again and let her breathing fall into a normal sleeping pattern. As she tried to doze off, she heard Hazel give a sigh of relief.

"They're only letting me take care of you as long as you're asleep. If you're going to escape, you need the information and I can't give it all to you in such short time." Hazel murmured, her mouth hardly moving.

Piper tilted her head ever so slightly to show she understood.

Hazel patted her carefully on the head one last time and cleaned the dried bloodstains trickling down Piper's mouth. Checking her watch, Hazel brushed her wet, tangled hair, and took a last look at her wounds, frowning.

"Bye Piper," She said quietly, gathering her things. "I'm going back to my cell."

"Bye Haze," Piper managed to whisper, her heartbeat suddenly racing.

Hazel was in a cell?

Piper spent the rest of the day trying to sleep, but kept awake by her frantic thoughts. It was likely that the camp had seen Hazel's true intentions of staying loyal to her and had locked her up, besides for her hours at the infirmary. She must be needed for her on the go medical skills.

While most campers had recovered, there was the occasional injury from sparring in the arena or other accidents. After hours of tossing and turning, Piper finally managed to fall into an uneasy slumber.

Her caution had merit, because the second her mind succumbed to darkness, she was sucked into a demigod dream. Piper moaned, holding her head as her pupils dilated, trying to adjust to the lack of light.

Finally, she managed to recognise a background she was familiar with. Too familiar, in her opinion. Goode High School. She shuddered, recounting the destruction she had caused in the science lab.

That was my eighth expulsion, wasn't it? She mused.

Piper suddenly jolted, and she felt a painful pull in her navel. Groaning, she walked dizzily in a couple directions until the pain lessened. As she continued on her path, she saw a girl in black, climbing over the roof.

 _It was her._

Piper put a hand over her mouth.

What's going on? She thought.

The girl leapt lithely across a bush and leaned on the back door, breathing quietly.

Piper suddenly smirked as she realized it was a memory.

I don't remember doing this. The notion hit her suddenly, and she frowned. You'd think I would remember sneaking out of my house in the middle of the night.

She followed her alternate self, feeling the pain fade with every step. Flexing her arms, she relished how it felt to move without the injury that restricted her in the waking world. Piper kept her eyes firmly on her counterpart, not wanting to feel unnecessary pain.

Narrowing her eyes, she broke a stick with her foot. The other Piper whirled around. With a gun.

Piper's eyes widened.

A gun? Why the hell do I have a gun? She thought incredulously. There's no way I just _forgot_ this.

Apparently seeing nothing, the girl pocketed the weapon and used her hands to hoist herself up on the wall.

Landing lightly on her feet, both Pipers looked around.

"Ziana." Her imposter hissed. "You there?"

The shadows seemed to melt and form a female figure.

"Good evening Piper." The girl said slowly stepping into the shadows.

Dark lidded eyes rose up to meet the Piper's. Ziana was dressed in a black leather jacket, with many chains of silver layered across her neck. She was wearing black leggings and a loose grey shirt which portrayed a flower with an arrow through the stem.

"So," said Piper, sounding excited. "Who will we kill tonight?"

The real Piper drew back her breath in shock.

"You mean what _thing_ ," Ziana said reservedly. "We will be hunting a beast called hellhounds."

"Hell...hounds?" The girl said dubiously.

"Indeed," Ziana said, sounding amused. She motioned for Piper to drop her gun.

"You won't need that where we're going," she said impatiently.

"Then what will I use?" Piper asked.

"This." Ziana said, smiling.

She drew a familiar knife out of her pocket.

 _Katoptris._

The girl took the knife cautious hands.

"Tell me why I can't use my gun again?"

Ziana rolled her eyes. She drew a card out of her pocket, and blew on it.

The sheet of paper seemed to dissolve into dust, and swirled around on the ground, gradually forming a shape.

"This," Ziana motioned to the hazy hellhound, "is a basic model of what the monster looks like."

She nodded to Piper.

"Shoot it."

Piper held the gun up and fired, only to gasp in horror as the bullet passed through the form.

"Would that happen to a real monster too?" She breathed.

Ziana nodded. "We've practiced with dummies for the past few weeks, but it's time for you to make your first kill."

The smaller girl looked at her friend determinedly.

For gods sake! Piper thought in disbelief. This Ziana girl was making me kill when I was twelve! And I somehow don't recall this!

The two seventh graders sprinted away, and Piper felt pinpricks of pain start to gather. With a gasp, she ran after them, her longer legs making it easy to catch up.

This means I knew about demigods. She realized, her emotions slowly rising with terror. I knew _all along._

Her legs pounding on the ground, she finally calmed her thudding heartbeat when she realized they were just going to the forest next to the school.

She studied the lush grass and pulled a few strands to steady herself, only to scream as it turned to dirt in her hands. Massaging her head, she traced patterns in the brown dust and slowly raised her head.

Ziana waved her hand and the trees melted into a deadly landscape. Sharp rocks covered with blood lined the ground and a hellhound roared in the distance. A few skeletons of animals lay in different piles.

Her twelve year old self didn't seem to mind the sticky red liquid on her combat boots. The older version of her clutched her own stomach and retched, feeling the vomit coat her mouth.

Ugh, Piper thought, wiping her mouth. How barbaric. This Zia has some imagination.

Ziana didn't seem to mind though, her fingers gracefully twisting mist into more barbed wire. She weaved thorns into a short path leading directly to the hellhound.

She smiled devilishly at Piper.

"Kill it," she said. "I dare you."

Piper struggled to keep her nausea down and ran to keep up with her younger self as she raced off.

The twelve year old sliced naively, unbalanced and overconfident. After about five minutes of trying to hit the hellhound, a black arrow flew across the long distance and impaled the monster's heart.

Both girls spun around, looking at the approaching figure of Ziana.

Piper was impressed. The girl had a black bow with two silver stars on both ends. The bow seemed to be metal, which was a miracle in itself as Piper had never seen a working bow made of that material. Normally metal bows were never crafted because the tension of the string would always be too tight and the arrows were very hard to control.

However, Ziana seemed to fire the arrow as simply as her younger self had pulled the trigger.

"Wow!" Piper gasped. "Ziana! I never knew you could do that!"

Ziana walked up, looking amused.

"Thank you, I suppose," she said. Piper looked at her eagerly.

"How did I do?" She asked.

Ziana didn't miss a beat.

"Terribly," she said.

Piper deflated a little.

"Oh."

Ziana just shook her head, smiling, and showed Piper the beginners stance for fighting.

"So you put your hand here, right leg back to support your body and left leg in front to give you a push if you need it..."

The girl watched wide eyed for several hours, as she tried in vain to copy the moves.

Eventually, Ziana paused her training. She looked completive as Piper held a her body in an adequate defensive position.

"Now let's see how good you are at reflex fighting," She said, grinning mischievously. The older version of Piper noticed that this was the first sign of affection Ziana had shown the girl.

Instantly, Ziana summoned another crude hellhound, the pearly surface shining brightly. The creature barked, lunging for Piper. Screaming, she deflected the blow, unprepared for such a sudden attack.

Once she had regained her balance, Piper ran her knife down the side, encouraged by the sliver of mist leaking from the hellhound's side. Eyes narrowed, she gave a stab, missing it's leg by inches. Ziana stood to the side, proudly watching the girl fend off the monster. Soon enough, Piper managed to land a blow to the creature's windpipe, cutting a vital artery.

Whimpering in pain, the monster finally disintegrated. While Ziana looked pleased, she didn't give Piper any time to recover.

"Stand in front of me," she said determinedly. "I must show you something."

The older version of Piper looked curiously at Ziana. Her aura felt familiar and Piper could tell that she meant no harm.

Then again, the power could still be a bit shaky, she thought. I'd only developed the power _after_ using the black fire, after all.

Piper stood trustingly before Ziana. There was a flash of shame in her eyes, but Ziana seemed to ignore it, and rose up on the balls of her feet.

"I'm sorry Piper. You truly were a friend." She said gently.

"Ziana?" the girl asked confusedly.

"Chaos." Ziana said clearly.

Piper staggered in disbelief.

What did she say? She thought shakily. It can't be.

Bright sparks rose from Ziana fingers but when she snapped them, the orbs flew to the young girl, and circling around her head.

"Ziana?" She repeated, sounding scared. "Zia, _what are you doing_?"

The girl just smiled. "Don't worry. You won't know Ziana by tomorrow."

Piper swayed, looking faint. Her eyes closed and she slumped to the ground.

"But she'll have the muscle memory of what she's learned… she should survive until camp," Ziana muttered to herself. The then looked up, smiling.

"Good luck Piper," she murmured, retrieving Katoptris.

"I will send it to the Camp armory." Ziana muttered thoughtfully. "It will draw her attention, just as it did her sister, Helen."

She took a pen from her jeans and traced what looked like a rune on the blade.

I've seen that symbol before, Piper said, amused at the irony. I always wondered who put it on my knife.

The word 'Creator' flared over the weapon for a second, then seemed to sink into Katoptris. Ziana put it on the ground quickly, where it vanished with a crack.

Ziana inspected the place where it had been. Apparently finding what she had been looking for, she exhaled in relief.

"Chaos," she said again, getting to her feet.

Another orb shot from her fingers, but this time, it was pitch black. It swirled gracefully across her palm, and she enlarged it.

"Hello?" She called.

"How did it go?" An answering voice came.

"Mission complete, Commander," she said.

"Good," said the person on the other side. "Come back immediately. Don't risk anything else."

Ziana nodded. Her form swirled just like when she had created the illusions of the landscape. It seemed to lengthen, and in a second, there stood a beautiful young teenager.

"Permission to teleport?" She questioned.

"Granted," the voice informed her.

With a crack, similar to the knife, Ziana disappeared.

Piper was left staring in shock at the spot where Ziana had just been. She tried to reach out to her younger self, but the landscape started to fade. Piper found that she couldn't move.

The scene changed, fading into shades of green and pink, until the color yellow overwhelmed both of them. The desert. It was the _desert_ , she realized. Bile rose in her throat as she smelt the decay of the dead bodies that lay littered on the ground around her. A hundred demigods lay scattered across the battlefield.

Feeling sick, she glanced at one of the demigods near her. Mark. Behind him. June. Faces upon faces that had haunted her nightmares seemed to rise up out of the dust to mock her.

"You killed me," Lacy said indignantly, her corpse creaking as she sauntered over to her sister. "Damnit Piper, you said you'd have my back."

Her ghost seemed to swirl for a second, then disappeared in a puff of black ink, as some unknown author painted a new bloody scene.

A mirror image of the battle rose up around her, and all Piper could do was close her eyes and pretend it wasn't happening.

When Piper finally opened them again, she was sobbing.

This is impossible, she thought. No god would be cruel enough to make me suffer through this _twice_. Piper's heart sunk as she saw her sister disemboweled by the hellhound. Reaching as if trying to help her, her hand flew right through a empousa.

I'm not substantial, she thought miserably. This is even worse.

Piper watched herself crouch over her sister, murmuring gentle words as she closed Lacy's eyes for the last time. Floating over to them, Piper smiled at seeing Lacy again, even if she was as dead in the dream as in real life.

Piper's counterpart stood, fists clenched, feet apart, flipping Katoptris into her hammer's grip. Her eyes blazed with rage as she raced off to find the hellhound.

To distressed to see the hellhound killed, Piper managed to avert her eyes from her brother's unmoving form. As she drifted over to her friend, she felt her heart clench as Hazel screamed, hand on her face as a hellhound gouged out her cheek. Blood coated half her face and large marks could be seen where her left ear had been.

I didn't see that before, Piper thought, realization striking her across the face. _She was using the mist to cover it up._

Piper couldn't bear to watch another second. Eyes streaming, she raced across the battlefield, determined to find something good. Anything.

She couldn't get the images out of her head. Hazel was scarred for life. Lacy's body would never be recovered. Chris would never see Clarisse again.

Guilt set into the center of her chest.

I was so selfish, she thought, tears leaking from her eyes. I didn't even think to look at other people's suffering, I was so certain mine was the worst.

As bursts of pain began to form in her stomach, she she realized that it wasn't just the shame. Wiping away her tears, she cursed her stupidity for leaving her past self.

She hobbled in the direction that she had last seen Piper, only to gasp as the pain increased and doubled back. Running as fast as she could, she finally recognised her battered braid.

Piper sighed in relief as the agony subsided. After a few moments to regain her bearings, she confusedly studied where she was.

Princess, she eventually recognised.

Piper and the other girl faced one another, muscles tensed and teeth gritted. As they engaged in hand to hand combat, Piper studied the style on the girl, and for the first time, noticed a bow strapped to her waist.

From afar, the girl seemed to know what Piper was going to do before she did it. Piper saw herself looked stunned as the girl flipped her knife into an icepick grip, and scoff at the hand.

In a matter of seconds, the girl had her past self pinned down. Piper floated closer to the pair, and felt a smile bubbling on her lips for the first time in hours.

That was a remarkable shade of puce, she admitted.

Suddenly, Piper's dreamlike state was merged into her past self, and she saw her opponent's mesmerizing black eyes once again.

Or was that twice? Piper thought, her head spinning.

"Oh gods." She breathed. "Ziana."

The girl looked stunned.

"What?" She managed to spit, pressing her knife harder against Piper's neck.

"Zia," She repeated. "Let me up."

Ziana narrowed her eyes, and Piper suddenly realized that this wasn't how the battle had played out.

Have I changed something? She wondered, her heart in her throat.

She refused to beg to Ziana, the girl who had once been her friend.

She stared back determinedly, and didn't look away.

Eventually, Ziana sidestepped, and offered her a hand up.

"Piper," she said guardedly. "How do you remember me?"

Piper didn't answer.

This is all in my mind, she thought. This never happened. _I am not here._

In the illusion, it suddenly started to rain, and she felt the damp wetness on her forehead. Piper's eyes shot open to daylight, and she realized it was morning.

Gold eyes met cherokee, and the sunlight flowed into Piper's pupils. The person took a step back and Piper recognized her as Hazel. She wet Piper's head with a towel, cursing as her hand connected with her flesh.

"Gods, Piper, you burning up!" She whispered.

"I'll bet she has a fever," Hazel said loudly, mainly for the cameras. Piper felt a little faint, but she tried to respond anyway. She relished the ice-cold water coursing through the sticky heat of the fever.

Hazel placed her hands on her collar and Piper ignored the pain blistering through them. If anyone were to look through the window it would look as if Hazel was massaging her shoulders.

"Hazel!" Piper muttered. "Too hard!" Hazel looked back with an embarrassed face.

"Sorry," she hissed. "I had to make it look convincing."

Piper nodded, waiting for Hazel to sit down and press her shoulders again, more gently this time.

"It starts like this," she began, sighing as if the memory was not one she would repeat. "You pretty much know about the battle. Death. All the monsters disintegrating. All that. You passed out in exhaustion, and nobody could touch you, there was that much power. Well, no demigod could touch you, and the gods were just selfish."

Piper's eyes widened to hear Hazel so blatantly disrespect the Olympians. While she wholeheartedly agreed, the first rule to surviving a demigod life was to choose your words carefully. When she pointed this out, Hazel didn't even bat an eyelash, choosing to ignore her.

"Percy was awake, but looked completely worn out. He had this crazed look in his eyes, and I don't think he knew at all what he was doing. We gave you some ambrosia, and you caught flame." Piper barely managed keep her hand from flying to her mouth. The stories Chiron had spun at least had some truth.

"Percy staggered forward, and shot about five streams of water into your mouth, and you lay limp as a rag. Percy then collapsed, even that small act was too draining to perform without consequences." Hazel reluctantly told her in the brightest light she could.

"You were still smoking though, and Thalia limped over and shocked you about three times until you choked the half-eaten piece of ambrosia out." Piper flushed in embarrassment. "She kept using her powers, and when we asked her why, she said you're pulse was _gone_."

Piper could feel Hazel's hands trembling on her shoulders.

"It was so _horrible_ ," She breathed, blinking rapidly. "You were dead, Piper. You were _dead_." She faced away from the camera, hiding Piper behind her body.

"Then," she said shakily, and Piper didn't have the heart to stop her. "You were moved to the infirmary. And for unknown reasons," Hazel grit her teeth, "The gods claimed you were not to have any _medical treatment_."

Piper flicked a finger, gesturing to the horrible stitches and flimsy bandages. She raised her eyebrows in a clear question.

"Well," her eyes glinted rebelliously, "Katie and I attempted to patch you up. You would've been in an even worse position of we hadn't," Hazel muttered, wincing at my charred leg. She sighed and pretended to check the thermometer.

"Chiron put Percy in the Infirmary and gave him ambrosia, already having a bucket of water in case Percy had the same result. What he said was true - Percy started to burn. Chiron poured the water in his mouth and he healed, he is a son of Poseidon after all. But what scared everyone the most, was that he burned slowly. The fire barely hurt him, when it should have killed him instantly," Hazel said, looking troubled.

"Good to know," Piper muttered, her eyes glazing over in confusion.

Hazel brushed her words off.

"While you both were out, Chiron got a whole load of packaging. He took one glance at them and turned deathly white. He went into his office and didn't come out for a week."

A week? Piper thought incredulously. I imagined a couple days, at the most.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asked, trying to keep her voice as low as possible. Hazel looked sad, like she would rather not tell her, but then a harsher coldness came over her eyes.

"Just two weeks. But so much can _change_ in that time," she replied, dimly.

Hazel then moved on to the next topic, as if she had never asked a question.

"After that, Annabeth was known to be really agitated, she wouldn't eat, and hardly slept. Always staring into Daedalus's laptop." Piper nodded, understanding. She knew that when Annabeth set her mind to something, she never gave up.

"I was worried about her," Hazel bitterly declared, "and I asked her to tell me what was on her mind. She softened and told me that she had become so curious about the letters she had stolen them."

Piper was horrified. Annabeth had always been a role model, a sort of older sister, and her taking things without permission was a strike against everything Piper knew about her.

Then again, she thought darkly, I thought she was loyal too.

Hazel exhaled solemnly, and Piper knew that this was the body of the conversation.

"She told me _everything._ The letters, Gaea's final wish, she told me that in the printing Gaea wrote… 'The two half-bloods who failed to awaken me shall be sacrificed in my honor.' I thought about you and Percy and was horrified. Completely disgusted."

Piper's hands fisted the covers and she struggled to breathe.

"A sacrifice." Piper said uncertainly. "A _sacrifice._ " The meaning of the word finally sank in and Piper coughed up blood as her stomach convulsed.

Hazel lept to her feet looking panicked.

"Oh no," she said loudly, covering up the sound of Piper's coughing. "I should get the… uh… sleep medicine," she finished lamely.

"A-a..." Piper couldn't bring herself to say it. Tears ran in little drops into her hair. She tried to think of something else.

"How did you know that Percy and I were the ones? The half bloods whose blood failed… the um… that," Piper said, struggling to control her nausea.

Hazel frowned, sitting back next to her after getting random pills from the shelf. "I don't know. The letter didn't even mention you. I guess because you guys are the most powerful."

Piper ignored the tears welling in the corners of her vision.

Why am I crying? They don't deserve it, she thought venomously. She calmed herself and faced Hazel, forcing her face in a neutral expression; pursed her lips into a straight line.

"What was their excuse? The campers'? The gods'?"

Hazel looked up, the beginnings of teardrops glistening in her swollen red eyes. "That you were… worthless," she spat. "That you didn't even do that much in the war. Not important enough… to save. They said it was pointless."

The tears spilled over Piper's eyes even though she tried to stop them. The bed sheets were stained with blood and salt. Hazel had stopped feeding Piper information, but she could still feel the daggers piercing her heart. Miserably, she gave Hazel a watery smile.

"At least you're here," Piper said quietly.

A sudden thought made her jolt.

"Thaila." She burst out. Hazel looked horrified and slapped her hand down on Piper's mouth. She glared furiously at her, and Piper could see the warning in her eyes.

"She would have never abandoned us," She said softly. " _Never_. She's too loyal, most kids of the big three are." Piper seemed to dare her to say otherwise.

"She didn't." Hazel murmured soothingly. "A few demigods fought against it."

Piper breathed a sigh of relief.

"They were furious," Hazel continued. "There was Grover, Juniper, Nico, Katie, Leo, Travis, Connor, Thalia, Reyna, Lord Hades, and even Lady Artemis." Hazel listed the names, pointing them all out on her fingers.

"No Frank?" Piper asked gently.

Hazel's voice broke.

"No Frank," she whispered.

"Oh Hazel," Piper murmured, tightly embracing the girl.

She couldn't bring herself to ask about her own boyfriend. Realization seemed to sink in.

"What happened to them?" Piper whispered, her heart suddenly racing. Hazel smiled, as if reading her mind, and looked thoughtful.

"They're alive," she said carefully, and Piper closed her eyes in sheer thankfulness to whatever deity was helping her friends.

"But barely," Hazel said gently. "They are being contained. Forbidden to help you. Those particular gods have been... temporarily relieved of their duties. They are in a different type of prison." Piper looked at her shaking hands, wondering if another place like Tartarus existed.

A sudden notion hit her. Wasn't _Katie_ one of the demigods Hazel had listed? Piper could have sworn she'd seen her last night.

"What about Katie?" She inquired, trying to stretch her back with minimal movement. Piper groaned as she heard a crack.

She'd seen Katie's glowing green eyes peeking from the Demeter cabin last night. They had a certain innocence that she couldn't ignore, and Piper could honestly say that she had missed her attitude and kindness.

I just can't forget the way she beat the Hermes out of her boyfriend, she thought, a small smile forming on her lips.

Hazel reassured her. "Katie, like me, is one of the demigods that have resolved to sneak you and Perce out. One of the quieter ones that blended into the crowd…" Hazel stumbled across her words.

"Well, Travis wanted to be a, um, ninja, but even he knows how serious this is. Acted like they were okay with murder, slightly reluctant, but still prepared." Piper smiled. There were at least a few pure hearted campers, and the knowledge warmed her heart.

A matching pair of steady gold slits met her eyes.

"We're going to sneak you out. The sacrifice will start as soon as Percy regains consciousness, and knowing his limits, it won't be long… so we're leaving tonight," she gestured to Percy, "dragging his useless behind with us. Got it?" Piper nodded.

She smiled, her sinister grin fixed on the window as if still keeping watch.

"Here's the plan," she said. "All of the loyal demigods are in on it, Katie, the Stolls and I. Katie's packing the necessities, Travis is setting traps, Connor's making the escape route, and I'm planning where to go."

She continued, shaking her head slightly.

"You are to pretend to wake up again at six in the afternoon. Get used to the feel of crutches. Tell the camp that Annabeth hit you too hard, and that's why you were unconscious longer than they expected. The twins will _guard_ you so that you don't escape. Understood?"

In shock the entire time, Hazel had to shake her to get a response. Finally, they resolved to do as she had originally planned; her idea of escape was a good one after all. With a reluctant sigh, Piper said the sentence that would change her life, for the better.

"I'm trust you, Haze."

At sundown, Piper was painfully hobbling around on crutches, practicing racing around. It was getting darker and darker outside, and the Stolls decided to keep 'watch' over her. As soon as the sun had set, Connor mumbled to Piper.

"Ready?" Piper nodded, because she wasn't capable of talking without the remaining blood spilling out of her mouth.

He grabbed Percy's legs and pulled with brute strength. There was a gruesome crack and Connor winced as he spotted the damage he had done to get him out of his bed: Percy's left collarbone was unimaginably twisted and there was a large split in the skin with the bone easily peaking out.

Blood spilled relentlessly from the wound and Piper spotted a large sponge in the only sink and stuffed it into the cut, hoping to ease the steady flow of red liquid.

Satisfied, Connor dragged Percy onto his shoulder and heaved him up. They rushed to the entrance of the infirmary. Travis looked across the desolate clearing and looked surprised to find that it was barren of human life.

He gestured for us to hurry. Travis completely blended into the background, he was wearing entirely black.

Hazel joined them at the entrance, along with Katie. She looked completely mortified at her boyfriend's outfit, but gave Travis a peck on the cheek anyway, and sincerely handed Hazel the bag of basic survival. She hurried back to the Demeter Cabin after wishing them luck.

Piper felt nervous as she realized Percy was leaving a trail of blood, and they could easily find them just by sending dogs. They tried to stem the flow of the sticky red substance as far as the border of camp.

Painfully dragging herself across, Piper searched for her bag. She found some blood start to dribble down her mouth and felt slightly embarrassed, only to inwardly smack herself. Piper had some of Connor's weapons, because it was hard to take more than Percy. He could only take his sword, strapped to his back.

Connor was leading the way, with Travis placing traps over all forest life they didn't step on. Piper looked in the packed bag and spotted a gallon of water, about a pound of food, and some ambrosia. Hazel had insisted, despite Piper's proclamations that it 'didn't work on her'.

Without a second thought, she grabbed huge gauze from her camping bag; pushed it in her mouth, stopping a portion of the red from splattering on the leafy ground. Hazel helped her, drenching her hands with blood.

"We need to strategize," Piper told her, barely able to talk around the cloth. She stopped Travis and wrapped some gauze around Percy's collarbone. She ignored that it was so tight that she probably stopped his circulation. Piper knew that they just needed to distance themselves from the camp and hope Katie and the Stolls can put on a good show. Hazel was out of the question. She was already a known traitor.

Lead them off the trail, she thought grimly. The idea was for Hazel to tell the camp the direction they had gone in. Obviously, the camp wouldn't believe her, but they would believe the Stolls' when they pointed in the opposite direction.

Piper had laughed when she first heard it. It didn't seem funny anymore.

She grunted in torment as her mouth overflowed with blood and she noticed the bandage was already soaked. Piper grabbed another and found it was hard to breathe. Blood trickling down her throat, she gagged and bit back her squeamish stomach.

Annabeth was the best tracker at camp. She didn't need to give them more evidence to use.

With excruciating pain, Piper heaved herself forward, Hazel supporting her left arm with her free shoulder. She grunted in arduous pain, and moved faster, reaching the edge of the forest less than seventeen seconds. Piper was sweating: her arms were overloaded and her left leg was in incredible agony.

Piper suddenly heard a voice in the woods.

"Come on," Hazel hissed quietly, and she leapt, jumping over the bushes to avoid the demigod. She crept downwind so he couldn't see her.

"Hello," she finally said, emerging from the branches. Piper stifled a giggle. It was such a messed up situation that she felt delirious. The boy spun around, holding a shaking gold sword.

Hazel's fake smile turned into a sneer, and she snapped her fingers, making a tunnel appear below him. He fell, yelling, until she snapped her fingers again and the tunnel closed off.

"Goodbye," she said calmly.

Hazel gestured for her to come and Piper obeyed. She hobbled through the hedge branches, gritting her teeth as each twig seemed to gather blood from her cuts. Travis and Connor crept out of the trees opposite them and looked at Hazel in awe.

"Get over it," she said bitterly. "It's just Hecate's powers. I don't even want them anymore."

The strange group walked for several minutes, until Connor finally stopped at a cave. He motioned for Travis to start putting down traps.

"This was one of their hideouts," he said. "Annabeth, Thalia and Luke's." Connor whispered raggedly at the last name, breathing hard as he eyed the cave.

"I'm sure Luke, wherever he is, is happy that you'll be able to hide here. It's finally being used for good."

Piper couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. She felt like this was the end of the road, where her friends would leave and risk their own lives for her. She nodded tearfully and looked at Hazel.

"Jason abandoned me. Didn't he? Tell me, please, the truth." She begged, her heart breaking with each word. She saw the answer in Hazel's glowing eyes. Piper let out a sob.

She had willed herself to be wrong. Every shard of hope that she had protected fell. Broken. Shattered.

"You're worth so much more than him." Hazel promised. "He never deserved you in the first place."

Piper gave her a watery smile.

"Frank too," she murmured back. Tears fell from Hazel's eyes.

"I love you Hazel," Piper said, as she wiped the trail of tears off her cheeks.

"I love you too, Pipes," she promised, "I'll never forget you." Piper nodded numbly, and Hazel seemed to understand that if she said a single word more than she would break down.

"Tell Percy… No matter how much of a… a weirdo he is, he'll always be my favorite cousin."

A stick cracked. At once, the Stolls' heads shot up, rapidly scanning the area. They had been listening to their conversation in an awkward silence. Piper listened intently, and realized that she could distantly hear approaching footsteps.

Hazel looked horrified.

"I didn't know they'd find you so fast! You've got to get out of here!" She hissed, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. Connor handed her Percy, and Piper almost collapsed.

"Get him into that tree and climb the branches," he told her, looking far more composed than she felt. Piper nodded and hastily found a hole in the bark. With obvious relief, she slipped him inside the trunk. Percy was entirely encased in the branches, safe, for now.

Travis murmured something to his brother, before speaking aloud.

"Who's there? Show yourself." A young demigod around the age of twelve appeared.

"Travis? Connor? What are you doing here?" He asked angrily. "Annabeth said that the plan was happening now! We have to kill them before they escape!"

Piper inhaled sharply. The boy was _nine_.

How could you _,_ she thought to Annabeth. You've created a camp of _monsters_.

His eyes suddenly narrowed. "What are you doing with _her_?" He said in disgust. Piper tensed. "That girl, Hazel, whatever, is a traitor! Don't you remember?"

Piper let out a low growl.

The boy spun around wildly.

"What was that?" He shouted loudly.

Piper watched in horror as they shielded her with their bodies.

"Stay back, Jeremy, don't come closer if you want to live." Connor said warningly, holding out his hand to her for his weapon. Piper was startled as she recognised venom in his voice.

Piper reluctantly handed a glinting blade down from the branches, and the boy was aghast when he caught a hold of her face.

"You're a..." He shook his head in disbelief. He started spin around and duck behind the bark, but didn't make it five meters. Connor raised his arm, and the knife soared through the air. The boy twitched and fell still. Travis held his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry," Piper whispered. "This is all my fault."

There was a split second of silence, and then Connor spun around, fury blazing in his eyes.

"Don't. Don't you dare." He said quietly, trying to contain his anger. His hands shook as he looked at the knife protruding from the boy's back.

Piper looked at him inquisitively.

"What do you mean?" She asked, in a voice full of shame. " _It is_. There's nothing else to say. I've caused all this destruction, I didn't just kill monsters: I killed _people_."

"If you're a murderer, that what am _I_?" Connor roared.

Without hesitation, Hazel slapped him across the face.

"When I say shut up, _I damn well mean it._ " She seethed. "What is with you people that prevents you from being subtle!"

They all listened for footsteps but none reached their ears.

"What I meant," Connor said bitterly, "is that I just killed my own brother." He pointed to the boy lying on the floor.

Piper moaned in horror. That was a son of Hermes, she realized, feeling sick. Tears sprang into her eyes.

"You just have to understand that none of this is your fault," Connor continued. "It's not your problem that those idiot campers decided to kill their savior, or that your friends abandoned you. We've risked _everything_ for this, to know you'll die in your own time, for something worth sacrificing yourself for. You guys are going to live your life, and you're going to be happy!"

Hazel didn't have the heart to hit him again. Connor seemed to age with every word.

"We're not just doing this for Percy, McLean, because while we've only fought with you once, we know you're good. You've got a true heart, and you're going to live all that… that _pureness_ somewhere that is good enough for you and him." He motioned to the trunk.

"I'm not trying to save you both to be heroic, or brave, or all that shit. I'm just trying to do the right thing."

Travis nodded. "We owe it you and even more so to Percy. The camp just doesn't deserve two people as good as you. We've caused you nothing but misery."

Hazel finished the sentiment.

"It's not your fault," she said gently. "It's not fair to us, after risking our lives, for you to wallow in guilt for the rest of your life. You'll be a bird chained to the ground." She pulled a feather from Piper's hair.

"See? You just need more time to decide when to fly."

Tears gathered in her eyes. She squeezed Hazel's hand and turned to the twins.

"I really wish I'd know you guys better," she said, touched. "I'm honored to call you my friends."

Connor turned to look at the looming trees.

"I'll only consider myself your friend if you survive tonight," he said darkly. He looked at the boy's body miserably, but with no hints of remorse.

"You're my only brother," he told Travis.

Piper felt another surge of guilt but pushed it down. Conflicted emotions rose up in her. A part of her battered relentlessly at her self esteem, asking if she murdered children for fun. At the same time, a spiteful side of herself confirmed that she was glad he was dead.

Hazel set her mouth in a hard line as she caught her staring at the corpse.

"You have to get used to killing, Piper," She said rather coldly. "I know you don't like murdering in cold blood but, sometimes, there's no other way."

Piper forced herself to nod. After five minutes of silence, Hazel stepped away from the tree.

"We have to leave before it gets suspicious. Annabeth's already hunting for you. She clearly hasn't alerted the camp yet. Probably wants to kill you alone as some kind of sick achievement." Hazel winced.

"I can't believe we used to be her friends," Piper said softly, pressing the cloth to her mouth again. Her gums had started to bleed again. She grunted irritably into the gauze.

"Piper," Hazel said firmly. "I want to talk to you for a second."

Piper reluctantly jumped down from the tree, gasping as he leg came into contact with a branch. Another day, another gash, she thought, gritting her teeth.

Hazel gently lead her a few meters away from the twins.

"Pipes," she said quietly. "I want you to promise me."

She looked down at the younger girl.

"What do you mean?" Piper asked.

"You have to get out. Do you hear me? Get out."

Piper flinched. But Hazel continued, as unforgiving as flint.

"Get away from camp, away from America, away from the gods. You know what I mean, right?"

"Alaska," Piper mumbled.

"Alaska," Hazel said, nodding. "A place where the gods can never reach you."

She put a hand on Piper's shoulder.

"Swear it," she said harshly. "swear that you'll live your life. That you'll forget what happened here tonight, and you'll release the guilt, that you'll forgive me for what I'll do."

"For what you'll do?" Piper asked her. "You've done nothing but help me, Haze. Why should I have to forgive you?"

She just shook her head.

"You'll see," she murmured.

Hazel reached up wrapped her in a loving embrace.

"I'd forgive you for anything, Hazel."

"I'll miss you Pipes. Seaweed-Brain too. Stay strong, please."

Piper nodded against her chest. Though Hazel was physically younger than her, Piper knew one day she would match her in height. Piper had been looking forward to that, and now she recognised for the first time she would never see it.

Piper pointed west.

"In the morning, I'll be leaving that way," she said.

Hazel nodded and gave her a light kiss on the cheek before melting into the darkness. Travis and Connor wished her good luck before disappearing into the trees, undoubtedly heading for camp.

Piper exhaled, her limbs trembling with effort as she crawled back into the security of the branches. No more that five minutes later, she heard the thundering of footsteps signaling the discovery of the escape.

She was snatched out of her daydreaming by an emerging yell.

"They're this way, I saw them!" She heard Connor, his voice steadily fading away. Piper blotted her tears and understood that there was nothing else they could do for her – them – even if they wanted to. Their remaining loyalty had given them the chance to escape, and they had to take it.

Piper fell into the curtains of sleep and stayed that way for a couple of hours.

She jolted awake when she felt the branches shudder, and a furious pounding surfaced in the bark. Piper heard Percy start to yell.

I didn't think he had claustrophobia, She thought, panicked.

Using her instinct, Piper immediately used charmspeak to quiet him. She carefully made her way down from the bark, careful not to dislodge any branches.

"Where are you," he muttered drowsily, trying to fight the impulse to obey her.

"I," he yawned. "order you to release me."

Piper looked through the trunk at his face.

"After we escape," she promised.

He blinked, beginning to dispel the cloudy white film on his eyes.

"What escape?" He turned his head slightly in the bark to look at her. His eyes showed no recognition and Piper saw the burning pain he tried to conceal.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. "What have you done with Annabeth?"

Piper felt tears running down her face as she sensed waves of love and despair radiating from his heart.

"Annabeth is gone," she told him. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head in disbelief.

"I don't believe you, and I won't until I see her body for myself."

Piper's heart sank. He thinks I mean she's dead, she thought.

She closed her eyes. This is the man who went to the deepest pits of the earth for her.

"She's not dead, Percy," she said as gently as she could.

Percy snarled at her, his senses suddenly crystal clear.

"Let me _out_!" He snarled, brutally slashing and kicking. If not for her trained reflexes, she would have undoubtedly been punched. Piper begged him to calm down.

"Please! Stop it! Percy, we're being _hunted_ , you have to stay quiet." She whispered down the hollow trunk.

He appeared to recognise her voice, and his attempts to escape subsided.

" _Piper?_ Oh. It's you." He muttered. His dimples vanished, as all exasperation evaporated into the musty forest air. He looked up at her with the determined expression that he always wore.

"Tell me this is a prank," he pleaded, looking up at her with matching green pools of misery.

"There's no way this can be real. I just dreamed about this. Why am I not," he banged his head against the tree, "waking up," he said in frustration, a large bruise forming on his forehead.

"The camp isn't trying to kill us," he rambled on. "Annabeth didn't betray us. We never were sacrifices. Chiron's on his way right now. Right?"

Piper knew she had to tell him. She looked into the eyes that had seen so much pain- inflicted so many deaths- and managed to find the innocence he still had in him.

This was too much, she acknowledged. This would break him. However, just like Connor and Travis did, Piper owed him the truth. And so she told him.

The color drained from his face, and he all but collapsed in the tree.

"Get me out of here," he rasped. Limping heavily, Piper dragged his body weight onto her shoulder and tried, without prevail, to heave him out of the shelter. He grunted in agony wherever she pulled. After the fifth attempt, he glared at her with his piercing jaded eyes.

"This is not going to work."

She glowered back, her hair soaked in sweat and blood dripping down her chin.

"No shit, Sherlock," she retorted.

An hour later, they were both sweaty and tired, but away from the tree. Percy was in the same state she was. They were in pain, both emotionally and physically. He looked at Piper in despair, as if he wanted her to laugh and say: " _Joke, just kidding, can't believe you fell for that!"_

But it was impossible. And she thought he finally realized.

After another hour of total silence, Piper heard a rustle in the trees. A camper fell out, dangling by a rope.

"The traps," she breathed. "It's too soon."

They were supposed to wait until nightfall to move.

Suddenly, with a loud bang, Percy collapsed to the floor, panting madly. The air seemed to be choking him.

Piper watched in confusion and sick fascination as he writhed in agony before her. After a few seconds of shocked horror, she dragged herself over to him and put a hand on his forehead.

She flung her hand away, gasping, and saw small burn marks appear on her skin.

Piper's vision flew to the trees, and she saw a few glinting eyes. They were watching, coldly observing.

"Help me!" She cried. If the campers heard, they showed no sign of it.

Piper felt her shirt catch searing flame, and looked down, panicking at the state of Percy.

"Chaos!" She said raggedly, but only a few tiny sparks flew from her palm.

I'm too weak, she thought, feeling disgusted with herself.

Percy was smoking, and obviously couldn't breathe. Piper took the little water they had and poured it over him, but the water simply evaporated into thin air. He coughed, gasping out smoke.

"Percy." She told him. "Stay calm."

He didn't listen and got to his feet, shaking at the pain that wracked through his body. He looked directly into the branches and started to speak. Every single demigod could hear him over the sound of his sizzling flesh.

"Just remember, that… I loved you. Loved you, _so much_." Piper felt tears threatening to spill over her eyelids and in an attempt to cover it up, wiped her charred hand over her cheek. She looked at the clear, salty water contrasting against the dirt caked onto her hand.

"But you betrayed me." He said in such a hurt tone that Piper saw every glowing eye look down, except for one pair of dull grey that looked at him in despair, and slight anger.

"Goodbye, Percy." The pair of eyes blinked, murmured something, and immediately he fell to the floor, writhing once again. The flames seemed to burn him down to his very core, and suddenly he was effulged in dark black flame. When the flames had ceased, Percy was _gone_.

Piper felt sudden fury shudder through her body.

"Are you happy Annabeth?" Piper screamed. " You hurt him more than Gaea ever could! _You broke him_!"

Annabeth ignored her, leaping to the next tree and smiling sadistically. The message was already clear, but the girl slowly drew a hand over her throat, ending with a jerking motion.

Piper felt sick, but faced her death head on.

All of a sudden, agonizing pain exploded in the surface of her throat, expanding, and demolishing the little relief she had felt. Piper felt the bubbled burning skin and the smell of acrid fire and smoke. In a split second, she felt the world spin. Dizzily, Piper tried to stand.

The pain was so intense that all she could do was scream in strenuous agony before darkness overwhelmed her, gently lapping over her forehead, a huge black wave. Somehow, she wasn't afraid. Piper greedily welcomed the unconsciousness, knowing that above, the traitorous campers were silently watching in the trees.

She was about to give into the unknown, before she heard an ear piercing shriek.

"No! Murderers!" Piper turned with great pain to see Hazel on her feet using every single curse she could think of.

"I'm too late," she kept sobbing. "I failed."

Keeping her back to Piper's body, she defensively stood between her and the remaining campers.

"I don't care anymore," she heard Hazel whisper softly. "Piper, forgive me."

She drew her _spatha_ from her belt and stabbed a camper.

She's going all out, Piper realized. She's trying to kill Annabeth.

She tried to tell Hazel that she was okay, still alive… but her mouth felt like putty. Out of the corner of her eye, Piper saw the pair of gray eyes narrow. Hazel fell to the floor with a thud: Annabeth's dagger protruding from her chest.

Piper screamed.

The world faded into shades of black and grey, and she was encased in a black velvet cover.


	3. Chapter 3

Dark mist covered the world of wake and Piper drifted from brief flashes of light to darkness. Plagued by nightmares, Piper thrashed wildly as Hazel pulled the trigger.

There was a flash of red. Someone was screaming. She was in so much pain, she collapsed. _Piper_ was screaming.

"You can wake now." Feminine and gentle, the voice soothed her mind, as reassuring as ice on a hot summer day.

Slowly, Piper begin to see the fuzzy outlines of shapes and sizes, and bright blurry colors. Color. A cold finger stroked her brow and she shivered, feeling some life and energy ebb away. The hand immediately retreated.

 _Hazel?_ Piper hoped against hope. _Please_ let it be Hazel…

"Are you alright?" She asked, her voice lingering in her mind.

It's not Hazel _,_ Piper reluctantly admitted to herself.

She had been so sure she'd heard it before. There was a little nagging feeling in the back of her mind, an echo of the past.

"Yes, I think so." Piper tried to respond, while her shape was slowly coming into focus. She found her lips unable to move.

Am I… paralysed? She wondered tentatively.

"Talk to me telepathically," the woman told her kindly.

Finally, Piper could fully see her. Her skin was milky white and her hair was braided in an elegant Chinese style bun. She was wearing a speckled black dress that seemed to reflect infinite depth. However, what frightened her the most were the woman's eyes: pits of deadly black fire.

The same fire that Percy and I had disappeared in, she thought, fear freezing her heart. The same fire that had come out of my fingers.

 _Where am I? Why am I here?_ She thought as hard as she could. Piper tried to imagine a mental link between them.

The woman looked surprised.

"You are better at telepathy than I had imagined," she marveled. "On the first try too!"

Piper noticed that she hadn't answered the question. The possibilities were endless. Was she leverage, bait?

Impossible, she chastised herself. There's nobody that could care less about you in Camp Half Blood.

 _If I may ask, who are you?_ Piper tried again.

The woman's smile widened.

"And even more polite than the other one." She laughed airily. "Though that isn't saying much."

She radiated strength and more than enough power to triple the Big Three. She shrugged, and for the first time, Piper noticed that her mouth was not moving when she replied.

"I'm sorry… I am being quite rude, aren't I? You are on the planet Meriopeua, dear. My name is Chaos."

Piper almost choked on her teeth, as she started to regain feeling, other than the numbness of not being able to move. In fact, she had also discovered that she could move her left ankle.

Wait. Piper finally registered what she had said.

 _The_ Chaos? She mentally yelled.

Chaos smiled amusedly, and absentmindedly tucked a stray piece of hair back in her bun.

"Yes, _the_ Chaos, as you call it." Piper was astonished. After having a short debate on what to call the woman, she decided that Lady Chaos was a suitable fit. She tried to unscramble her mind, feeling utterly bemused at her situation.

 _Okay,_ she thought numbly. _This is beyond creepy_.

She eyed Piper irritably.

"I create my planet. _No, that's not enough_ , they say. I create the _universe_ , no _that's not enough_. I create life, but noo, _that's not enough_. I am not whatever this _creepy_ word means… Unless it means brilliantly amazing."

Piper imagined herself holding her face in her hands.

 _I'm sorry!_ She squeaked. _I didn't mean to broadcast that telepathically! Please don't kill me!_

Lady Chaos laughed.

"You are a funny child, do you know that?" Piper's heart slowly stopped hammering and she took several deep breaths to steady herself.

Slowly, Piper felt cautiously around, making her fingers twitch ever so slightly. She managed to purse her lips and spread a thin layer of saliva on them. She sighed in relief as the cracks seemed to fade away.

Piper relished the sound of her teeth clacking against one another, and experimentally wriggled her tongue. Blinking slowly, she regained use of her spine and slowly turned her head to look at the walls.

She was in a large black space, decorated with stars and other planets. Piper identified Jupiter and Neptune, but she could not see any more that she could recognise on sight. A deep blue lamp was etched onto the ceiling, and Piper was amazed at the detail in that one piece of art. It was so much more beautifully sculpted than any masterpiece on earth.

Earth.

Reality knocked Piper from her daydreaming state.

"Is Percy alive?" She demanded, for the first time, out loud.

The woman laughed.

Lady Chaos snapped her fingers, seeming to embody interest. Piper looked at her more closely and realized that her hair was the black smoothness of the sky, braided with little stars and small glowing bulb, tying it all together.

The sun? She wondered.

Piper examined her dress and noticed it seemed to glitter at certain angles. Black hole material, she thought, wondering if anything else could surprise her.

Piper was blinded by a flash of light at the edge of her vision. She heard quiet footsteps behind her. Piper spun around, and in her panic, fell off the bed.

She groaned.

There was a flurry of sudden footsteps, and warm gentle arms lifted her back onto the mattress. Piper quickly scrambled back, resisting the urge to draw Katoptris.

Sure, she had to be nice to Lady Chaos, because she was… well, Chaos, but this boy was far from trustworthy.

She saw a pure black pair of sneakers, baggy black pants and a midnight hoodie, dotted with stars.

Who in Hades is _he_? She thought irritably. He must be powerful if he's wearing the same material as Lady Chaos.

Attempting to see into his mind, she winced in annoyance when she met a barrier. Prodding it angrily, the boy clutched his head in pain.

"Stop!" Chaos demanded, glaring at her. Piper reluctantly withdrew from his thoughts. Shaking his head, as if to get rid of the pain, the boy looked up.

Piper was met with the sight of familiar green eyes.

"You're awake," he said loudly, his voice full of relief and happiness. Piper frowned at him, trying to place where she knew him. Lady Chaos chuckled loudly, the incident seemingly forgotten.

"Why don't you re-introduce yourself?" she suggested dryly. Piper paused. How come she knew how to be sarcastic but not what the word 'creepy' means?

Lady Chaos glared at her. Oops.

The boy rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe you don't remember me," he grumbled good-naturedly. "I really hope I'm not that forgettable." Piper just looked confused.

Letting out an exaggerated sigh, he leaned against the bed, propping himself up on his shoulders.

"Well, my name is Damien, just Damien, thank you, I'm a chaotic soldier."

Piper gaped.

A chaotic soldier? She thought in a panic. Shit! Lady Chaos _is_ going to kill me! I tried to hurt part of her army!

"Well," he amended. "An elite."

She shook her head in disbelief while Chaos happily summoned popcorn.

"Who might you be then?" He asked charmingly.

"P-piper," she managed to stammer.

Lady Chaos smiled at him brightly, as if waiting for action. She then smirked at Piper seemed to send Damien a quick mental message. Probably an electric spark too, because he leapt a foot in the air.

"Okay, okay!" He yelped. "Formerly known as Percy Jackson!" He shook his head wearily. "You happy, you big bully?"

Piper's jaw dropped. How could he… he spoke like that to the _creator_ of thefrickin' _universe?_ He called _Lady Chaos_ a _bully?_

Piper wanted to hug him, slap him and cry all at the same time.

She inwardly screamed, waiting for the lightning bolt to strike down and leave Percy - Damien, whatever he called himself - as a pile of smoking ash.

Opening her eyes, she realized that they were both looking at her as if she was the peculiar one. Lady Chaos probed her mind for a second and then burst into fits of laughter.

"A- a _lightning bolt!"_ She gasped out. "I don't use those ridiculous twigs of energy that _Zeus_ has!"

Shaking her head at the oddity, Lady Chaos summoned more popcorn and used a ridiculous amount of butter and salt. Then she started eating again, her eyes fixated on the pair of them, still having little spurts of laughter.

Piper hit her head with her palm. She shook it so hard that she saw little reindeer jumping over the sun. She opened her eyes.

Nope, Piper thought. He's still there.

Percy was looking at her weirdly.

"No, hi?" He asked, a little hurt. "No, how've you been doing?"

"No- no!" Piper quickly backtracked. "I just meant… what're you… why is it… gah. So many questions."

She opened her arms for a hug, and Percy - Damien let her wrap his arms around his neck. Eventually, Piper patted the space next to her, and Per- _Damien_ sat, trying to adjust a pillow behind her back.

"I'm fine," she grumbled. He ignored her.

They both leaned against the wall and looked at Lady Chaos. Damien crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

Piper wanted to yell at him. I know you have a _thing_ for defying authority, but this isn't even the giants! This is the _mother_ of _Gaea_!

Piper stared at him, her mouth wide open. Damien looked confused, as if he didn't know what he did wrong.

"Why's she _staring_ at me?" He whispered uncomfortably to Lady Chaos. She drew herself to her full height sighed, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

Piper trembled. She had known it was too good to be true. Using her instinct, she shuffled closer to her friend.

Is this the part where Lady Chaos kills us? She wondered. Piper tried to think of other, more powerful, things than a lightning bolt.

Lady Chaos had an expression of pain on her face, and quickly sat back down. She seemed to shrink into herself, trying to make herself look as nonthreatening as possible.

"I see." She said quietly. "It will take longer for me to gain your alliance."

Piper felt ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry." She said softly. "It's just… after the war… I trust Percy. I don't know you."

Lady Chaos just nodded understandingly.

"Please, try to stand up," she said gently. "I want to see if you're fully healed or not."

Bracing herself for the pain, Piper carefully bent down, expecting to feel searing agony on her kneecap and backside. To her utter surprise, she felt nothing other than an easy flow of her muscles as she tentatively lifted herself off of the mattress.

Damian quickly jumped down and tried to help her. He attempted to steady her, but she brushed him away carelessly. Piper gasped in wonder as she jumped without ache.

Chaos looked at her, relieved and satisfied, as she hugged Damien. He looked happily oblivious, an expression she had gotten used to during the mock fights.

Unable to resist, she let out a loud laugh. Damien looked at her as if she needed mental sessions. She probably did. It was good to see Percy smile again, especially after Annabeth.

"I hope you've established I'm not a threat now," Lady Chaos said gently. "However, now that all the celebrating is out of the way, we have a lot of explaining to do."

Piper let out a small sigh. Almost her entire life had been consisted of talking.

I just want to relax with a friend for a while, she thought exhaustedly. I'm too tired to be a hero today. Put me on hold. She nearly cracked a grin, but held it back.

Piper leaned lazily on Damien, and he gladly supported her. Finding reassurance in the firm structure, she climbed back onto her mattress, again patting the spot where Damien had sat before.

"Jeez, Chaos," he mumbled, poking it. "You need to get better hospital beds."

Piper inwardly face palmed. While she was uncertain if Lady Chaos would kill him, Piper had the feeling _she_ would strangle Damien with her own hands if he didn't shut up.

"Don't be silly. It's not like people are going to be using it for _other_ activities." Lady Chaos waved it off. Piper blushed scarlet.

Lady Chaos winked at her.

Okay, Piper thought, getting over her embarrassment. She knows how to _wink_ , but not what the word _creepy_ is? Good god.

She frowned dryly at Piper. Before she could make another comment, Damian burst into laughter.

"Lady Chaos, "creepy" means strange," he told her. Lady Chaos appeared insulted.

"I am not strange," she said, looking completely offended. Piper quickly backtracked.

"I never said _you_ were strange," She hurried. "Dear gods no. I said the situation was strange." Lady Chaos looked relieved.

"Good," she said calmly, then nodded at Damien. "You can start." Piper tentatively winked back at Chaos.

The primordial beamed at her, and Piper could feel a small smile forming on her own face.

Damien cleared his throat loudly.

"Well, you know the basics. Lady Chaos woke me up about…" he cocked his head. "...two years ago." Piper held a hand to her mouth in shock. Two _years_?

"Yeah, two years," Damien confirmed. Piper was silent for a moment as she mentally confirmed that she hadn't spoken aloud.

 _Are you telepathic too?_ She tested.

 _Yup._

 _This feels strange,_ she replied.

 _Yup._

She rolled her eyes.

"Once is cute. Twice is just lazy."

"Hey!" Damien shot up indignantly. "I am not lazy! I am anything _but_ lazy!" Piper's head jolted as he jumped up, and she rubbed her head fondly as she stared at him.

"Just sit down again, you're depriving me of my pillow," she said, smirking.

"Now I'm a pillow," Damien grumbled, even as he lifted himself onto the bed. "I'm not even a manly object, like a weight. No, I'm a pillow."

"Well, you're not an ordinary pillow," Piper said in a matter-of-fact tone. She reclaimed her spot on his shoulder. "You're the replacement for my pink unicorn pillow."

Lady Chaos's cheeks turned bright red, and she held both hands over her mouth as she tried not to laugh.

Damien spluttered for a few seconds, before giving up.

"I called her Anita," Piper added unnecessarily.

"You're a cruel, cruel person," he said.

She grinned, "You act like that's a surprise."

He just sighed mournfully and scuffed up her hair. She batted his hand away.

"You're lucky I don't particularly care about appearances. If I did, you'd be a dead chicken."

He looked amused.

"A dead, _fried_ chicken," she added, attempting to be menacing.

It didn't work.

Finally, the giggles seemed to overflow out of Lady Chaos, and she collapsed on the floor, holding her sides. After about five minutes of exchanging confused looks with Damien, Piper pondered saying something.

Fortunately, there was no point, as a few seconds later; Lady Chaos's body seemed to flash silver. It danced across her form before sinking into her skin. She stood up abruptly, and sat down in her chair.

"Continue," she said with a slightly colder tone than Piper was used to hearing.

"Yes, Lady Chaos," Damien said respectfully.

Piper inhaled sharply in surprise.

"Well, I woke up in a room similar to this one," Damian said, still in his unnaturally submissive voice. "It's actually the one across the hall."

Piper craned her head to look and managed to get a glimpse of the room opposite her before the nurses bustled past.

"I was approached a few hours later by Lady Chaos. She offered me an apprenticeship to a general in her army, saying that I could refuse or accept, and either way, she wouldn't be angry or anything." Piper nodded, trying to focus on him.

Damn you, ADHD, she thought mutinously.

"Okay. Then what?" Piper asked curiously.

"Well, Lady Chaos, I think you can take it from here," Damien said.

She nodded and rose imperiously out of her chair.

"Miss McLean, would you please contemplate becoming an apprentice to one of my most trusted friends and confidants? She is highly trained and looks forward to seeing you, apprentice or no."

Piper wrung her hands, wondering if it was all right to ask a question.

"It is simply a precaution," Lady Chaos continued, "On the off chance one of them die. It would be prudent for you to learn their skills and be more aware of death. For example, if Damien was to die, you would inherit his apprenticeship and train have two masters, as opposed to one. It also goes vice versa."

Piper winced at the crude wording. Just in case the most death-defying demigod of all time dies, she thought, shaking her head at the irony. However, she still felt cautious. It seemed just so… convenient.

"What would this entail?" She inquired.

"You would start at the bottom, as everyone does. However, you will have more opportunities, as you would have an individual Master assigned. Most apprentices have shared Masters, and it is only by my choosing that you have this privilege." Lady Chaos responded.

"Would I be forced to do anything?" Piper asked, her voice cracking on the last note.

"I would have the authority to send you on missions, even if you didn't approve," Lady Chaos admitted. "And you would also have to obey your Master. However, if anyone else asks anything that makes you uncomfortable, you would just have to tell your Master. They would report it to me, and I would take care of it."

"Last question," Piper asked softly. "Why did you choose me? I understand Percy, but _me?_ "

Lady Chaos just shook her head. "You have incredible potential," she said gently. "In the mortal world, they have different ways of testing talent. On Meriopeua, there are many incredibly technologized machines that can test more than simple DNA."

She smiled again, gently letting an orb of magic glow on her fingertips. Several small galaxies orbited around the circle, and she pointed at all of the dull, dim dots that littered around each planet.

"Do you see all of them? You two were bright, even by elemental standards. It takes almost fifteen hundred years to find one of these people in the entire universe. Imagine my surprise when I discovered two babies with the skill? Not only that, but demigods, and within the _same_ _year!_ The odds were just… next to impossible."

"Oh," she said in a small voice.

"What makes this apprenticeship even more unique, is that you are only the seventieth I have taken in from earth, and most of which have been mortal. For someone my age," she chuckled, "That is extremely few. That is why I am giving you a chance for a new life. You will be respected, and loved by the people because you would save them from many dangers. However, you must prove yourself."

Lady Chaos's eyes softened. "Also, regardless of your decision, I will assign some lower level guards to protect your friends living on earth. There won't be a being on that planet who could harm them."

Piper steeled her gaze, as she fiddled with the unfamiliar smoothness that was her fingernails. "Thank you Lady Chaos. This truly is a wonderful opportunity, and I just can't pass it up."

Lady Chaos smiled, looking delighted.

"As Damien had wanted, am I to assume you also want to change your name?"

Piper cocked her head. She had thought that it had been Lady Chaos who had originally wanted Percy to change his name.

Even so, Piper thought. I can understand why it would be useful.

"Of course Lady Chaos. May I think about it?" Piper told her at last.

The Creator tipped her head in approval. Then something pink flashed across Lady Chaos's skin and she froze for a moment. Then she blinked and smiled even brighter than before.

Why does she have so many different moods? Piper wondered, taking care not to broadcast her thoughts.

"I'm getting to that part right now," Damien interrupted. "Okay, so each of the gods, you know, Athena, Zeus, Aphrodite-"

"I haven't forgotten, Damien." Piper spoke through gritted teeth.

I can't believe he still managed to read my thoughts, she thought grumpily.

"Oh right," he said, blushing _._

 _Kelp for Brains,_ Piper thought mutinously.

Lady Chaos burst out laughing. " _Kelp for Brains_?" she spluttered. Damian sighed, but a blush was creeping up his cheeks.

" _Damnit._ I was hoping I could hide that one."

Lady Chaos and Piper shared a small smirk.

"Well, you see Lady Chaos, there's others too, like Seafoam Butt, Clownfish King, Seaweed Br-" Atalanta trailed off.

Damien stiffened suddenly, and refused to look at her. For the first time, Piper felt regretful.

"That's not one of my nicknames anymore," he said in a tight voice.

"I'm sorry. I got so used to it on the ship that I forgot the person who used it most," she said quietly.

"It's fine," Damien said finally. "You didn't mean it."

Piper shook her head.

"I got over Jason pretty easily because I always had to deal with Drew. I realized after Khione that Jason was only with me for my looks." She winced.

"Uh… I'm sorry," he muttered awkwardly.

"No, it's okay," she quickly reassured him. "I'm not looking for pity. It was easier because I often expected him to be cheating on me, so I figured that him abandoning us was just a messed up version of that. It was just hard, because I didn't honestly believe that he would do it."

Damien shrugged.

"You and her though, you two were inseparable." Piper sighed. "You know Reyna had a thing for you, right?"

He nodded, looking upset. "I would have been better off dating her," he said.

"Well, the point is, you didn't cheat on Annabeth, even when you didn't have your memories and couldn't remember if you had a girlfriend. That… takes extreme dedication."

Damien looked slightly more forgiving.

"I guess that's true," he said. "I have to get over it sometime."

They bantered back and forth for a couple minutes, Damien becoming warmer and warmer with each jibe.

Lady Chaos finally interrupted. "As much as I love seeing this cuteness, we should probably get back to the talking…?" She was smiling, and her face seemed to light up the room.

Damien nodded.

"Actually, I think you can explain now," he motioned to Lady Chaos, who frowned.

"Hmm. I guess you're right. Sorry, I got a little confused." She shook her head bashfully. "I suppose you can say that I had- have a lot of arrogance, so to compress it, I had to put it into Zeus. I had too much wisdom, knew things that were supposed to stay buried, so I gave it all to the seer Metis, whom passed it down to Athena." She looked at Piper.

"Are you following?" She checked.

Piper managed to nod her head as it all fell into place.

"I then had too much beauty," Lady Chaos continued. "Mortal men padding after me, not realizing who I was – idiots – and it was a disaster! So I put it in the sea and Aphrodite was born from the ashes of my beauty. And..." she shrugged. "That's how the gods were created. They were one of my side-projects."

Her head was spinning from overload of information.

"Anything else?" she choked dryly. "Do you have a pet phoenix or hippo?" Lady Chaos looked amused.

"Only a phoenix, hippos are dreadfully messy creatures. I can't imagine it coming into my living room."

 _Urg,_ Piper thought.Lady Chaos looked concerned.

"What does this _urg_ word mean?" She asked Damien. "Another foreign word… if creepy and strange are the same word, why not just call them creenge or straepy?" He stifled a laugh.

Gods, I did _not_ call the creator of the universe creepy! I said the _situation_ was creepy! Piper banged her head on the table, only to suddenly shoot up suddenly.

"I got it!" She said excitedly.

"What! Where?!" Damien spun around wildly.

Piper giggled, then immediately frowned as she mentally swore never to let that sound come out of her mouth ever again.

"I thought of my name, dummy," she said, poking his stomach.

"Your name?" He asked incredulously. "You scared the living mushrooms out of me for a _name?_ "

Lady Chaos turned her face away to prevent herself from laughing.

"Living mushrooms?" She choked.

"Mushrooms exist," he said, shrugging. "It's a thing."

Piper waved it away, "Okay, Damien. Sure."

"It is!" He insisted. "I've heard loads of people say it. Like, um… my cousin?"

Piper just scoffed. "You only have three cousins, dipstick." Her voice trailed away, and her voice went quiet.

Three, she thought. If Hazel's alive. I just… I don't want to know. Yet.

She cleared her throat loudly. "Anyway, I thought about it and decided on the name Atalanta. Tristan often mentioned the name in his ancestor tales and it also has a greek legacy."

Lady Chaos nodded approvingly.

"That's a good name. Unswaying - in Greek. It fits you. Damien, stop tapping your foot. I'll let you out when I do so."

Piper flushed, but dipped her head. "Thank you Lady Chaos."

"Yes Lady Chaos," He said respectfully. "Okay, Atalie. Ready?"

Atalanta halted in her tracks, "You did _not_ just call me Atalie, Damie."

He looked faintly ill.

"Damie? Is that the best you can do? And I didn't say Atalie, I said _Allie_." She smiled.

"I suppose Allie is acceptable," she teased. "I guess I'll have to work on Damie a bit more."

Lady Chaos interrupted their bickering, "Can you two stop flirting? I need to give Allie, can I call you Allie?" She didn't wait for an answer. " - the average power and all that jazz."

All that jazz? Allie mouthed to Damien. He shrugged. A pink sheen flashed across Lady Chaos's skin.

Allie groaned loudly. "Hi aspect of Mom." She smiled brightly, seeming to become more beautiful each second.

"Come on now dearie, I need to give you your powers!" She squealed.

Allie turned, annoyed, to Damien. "Please tell me she is only like this one twelfth of her immortal life."

Percy grinned. "Can't do that. She switches all the time."

Lady Chaos swiveled her shoulders so that she was facing her. "Sweetie, will you, Piper McLean, swear by me to be loyal and fight for the side of your fellow comrades?" Allie nodded.

"Piper McLean, you will hereby be known as Atalanta, sacrificing your maiden name." Allie nodded again. She tried to ignore the pang of remorse that shot through her.

"I give you your newfound powers, for now and eternity. Do you accept?" Allie nodded with a sense of finality, closing her eyes and letting the darkness once again lap her into unconsciousness.

I wonder how long I'll be asleep this time, she thought wearily.

When Allie awoke, she was still in the same room. She felt slightly different, more powerful. Allie looked down at her sleeping form, and it took her a few seconds to realize what was wrong.

My consciousness is outside my body! She thought, panicking. She suddenly felt a stronger power than hers, the aura pulsing with energy as it entered the room.

"Don't worry child, your mind will take a while to re-settle into your body." Allie waited for an hour or two, completely numb, a chord slowly growing from the limp body on the bed. Soon enough, she felt a pull in her stomach and was yanked gruesomely back into her body.

Ew.

"Did that really just happen?" She asked Lady Chaos, who was waiting patiently for her. She nodded.

Allie groaned. Great, she thought. I'm delusional and seeing my body. Like, seeing my own body. I wonder when I surpassed creepy and walked straight into the insanity club.

"Still with the creepy word!" Lady Chaos sighed in exasperation. Allie stifled a laugh. She took a quick scan around the room, relishing that she was in the same place as before, but in different… Wait, what the Hades? _Clothes_?

"What am I wearing?" She asked Lady Chaos nervously, afraid of what the material might be. As far as Allie could see, it was exactly the same as Damien's outfit.

"Oh, I have most of my army wear this. It's just the simple basic teen style and I assumed you would like it too."

Allie nodded distractedly. "But _what_ is it?" She asked.

"The sweatshirt is made of black celestial metal," Lady Chaos responded. "However, the shirt underneath is just plain cotton. The jeans are made of normal, but tough leather and have sliding celestial bronze plates."

Allie took a second to marvel at how they filed soundlessly into the folds of her skinny black jeans. She kicked her legs and watched in fascination as the armor expanded to cover her legs. She then fingered her sweatshirt, wondering how the _hell_ it was metal.

Lady Chaos smiled. "You really need to learn to hide your thoughts," she said simply.

Allie blushed, "Sorry," she mumbled.

The Creator's eyes twinkled. "Not at all. I personally think it very amusing. Perhaps like a… how do you say it… television show?"

"I suppose so," Allie agreed. "I assume you're the aspect of Athena? You seem more knowledgeable about Earth."

She dipped her head. "Guilty as charged. My other aspects are far too concerned about what to wear that day, or how many arrows can be shot in a minute." She rolled her eyes. "I don't enjoy such frivolities."

Allie nodded in what she hoped could be perceived as sympathy.

"Back to the topic," Lady Chaos announced. "There is one last thing I need to give you."

She drew her hand back and clenched her fist. A tiny ruby hovered over her hand, and as she relaxed it, the gem sunk lower and lower.

"This," she said quietly. "Holds more power than you'll ever see in your life."

Allie's eyes widened. More powerful than you? She wanted to ask, but something told her to hold her tongue.

"It has a twin," Lady Chaos continued. "Damien's."

Allie cocked her head curiously.

"I only have two of these," she admitted. "Every single elemental that has passed through these doors have tried, and failed, to meet the crystal's standards."

"Until Damien, I was sure that there was nobody that could claim them. Therefore, when my emerald," she pointed to the empty spot to the left of the sapphire, "was accepted, I was skeptical. However, after thinking upon it, I have… some faith that the ruby belongs to you."

Allie shuddered.

"It's up to you," Lady Chaos said gently. "You get to decide if you want to touch the stone. If not, I can just take you to your master, and this whole thing will never be spoken of again."

Atalanta thought about it, and inwardly made a list of pros and cons.

"It won't hurt me?" She asked.

"This crystal is good," Lady Chaos confirmed. "There were two good ones and one bad one. The bad one is the only one that can hurt, and I don't have the slightest clue where it is."

"Alright," she agreed after another minute. "I'll try it." Inhaling, she held her arm out, but Lady Chaos pushed it away.

"You have to put it by your heart," she said. Allie took another shaky breath and Lady Chaos lifted the crystal into her hand. It was no bigger than her fingernail.

Letting it drift down, she finally let her hands rest on her heart, feeling the rapid beats that broadcasted her fear.

After a few seconds, Allie almost drew away.

"I don't think it's working," she said.

Lady Chaos gave a soft sigh.

"Very well," she said. "Give it back please." Allie made a pull as if to remove it, but gasped as saw she was unable to. Looking down, she realized that the little jewel had embedded itself into her skin, and was slowly sinking deeper.

"It's… why is it… it's going into my skin," she breathed.

Lady Chaos's mouth dropped open. "Truly?" She questioned.

"Yeah," Allie muttered, watching the ruby disappear. Instantly, black vines seemed to expand from the surface of her skin, dancing across her as if she was an empty portrait in an art museum.

A black dragon reared it's head as it settled for curling its tail around her neck. The body of the beast was beautiful as it wound around her stomach. For a second, it glowed a soft pink. And then the color diminished, the dragon became still and the world seemed to come into focus.

Piper blinked as the world stopped and became clearer. It was as if she had been seeing in blurry pixels and had put on glasses for the first time. Looking around in amazement, she glanced at Chaos, who was staring at her in horror.

Lady Chaos put a hand on her throat.

"This changes everything," she gasped. "I didn't really believe… Only one more..." She trailed off.

Allie shook her head. "What's wrong?"

Lady Chaos just sighed. "I guess you need to know as well," she said mournfully. "You and Damien are much more than simple apprentices."

Allie felt confused. "Uh… thanks."

The Creator blinked away the tears that had gathered in her eyes. "However, your path is not nearly as simple as I had hoped. I have…" she shrugged, as if trying to play it off as no big deal. "Enemies. Most prominent of them all, is my brother, Order."

Allie gasped. In all the myths she had read about Lady Chaos, she had never heard of such a thing.

"You have a brother?" she asked, her mouth seeming to be unable to connect with the roof of her lips.

"Yes," Lady Chaos said sadly. "Two, if you can believe it."

Allie hesitated, but put a hand on her shoulder. "What happened?"

She hesitated.

"I feel as if I can trust you. However, precautions must be taken." She took a breath. "Atalanta, do you swear by my father, Chronos, that you shall never willingly part with this information? No matter if you are under duress, torture or blackmail?"

Allie bit the inside of her cheek, but her curiosity overcame her. "I swear by Chronos, father of Chaos that I will not part with this information under any circumstances. None will know besides the ones you tell yourself."

"Very well," Lady Chaos said quietly. "I don't really know where to start. I suppose..." She looked uncertain.

"Start from where it all went bad," Allie suggested. Lady Chaos didn't need to voice that something terrible had happened. The sadness seemed to reverberate into every word.

"Yes, yes of course," she said. You see Order," her gaze turned slightly colder, "tried to kill me. There was a prophecy, and my fate was somewhat similar to yours." She smiled, still teary eyed.

"Instead of Percy, I had Aether, my other sibling. He was my youngest brother, my baby." Her voice broke. "Though I was the middle child, I was father's favorite."

Allie felt her eyes water at the emotion in her voice.

"I don't know what happened. It had seemed perfectly normal at first. As the days went on, Order became violent," she paused. "I don't know how else to describe it. It was always simple. My color was black, his was white and Aether's was grey."

Now Lady Chaos's shoulders shook as she tried to contain her sobs.

"Before Father passed, instead of giving the universe to Order, like he'd thought, he changed his will. He changed his heir to _me_."

She let out a choked laugh. " _Me_. Me in all my foolishness. Me, the young girl who went prancing around the planets and was _stupid enough_ to get discovered on Earth." She shook her head. "I don't know what he was thinking."

Allie hesitated. "I think you've made a great leader," she said quietly.

Lady Chaos chuckled. "You haven't heard the rest of my tale," she said darkly. "Maybe you wouldn't think so highly of me if you knew."

She raised her head slightly, a challenge. "Then tell me."

"Child are you sure?" Lady Chaos asked. "Damien didn't ask. Her prefered obliviousness than let me finish my story."

Allie nodded firmly. "If I have to help guard you from your brother, so be it."

Lady Chaos bit her lip. It was the first nervous habit Allie had seen from her. "I remember it perfectly. It was dark. Order had a cruel sneer on his face, and drew out the gash, watching the ichor bleed onto his clothes. It seemed like years, and I was frozen in my nightgown. Then Father was dead."

Allie gulped, not realizing she would hear the bitter words in all their horrible glory.

"Then he went for Mother - Ananke," The Creator continued. "This time I ran. I screamed, but he was too fast. It was her heart that was stabbed. Her eyes opened, just for a second, and she mouthed, _run_." Tears overflowed.

"Aether, he was only nine. His shadow was huge in the doorway, but he had such a tiny frame." She shuddered. "Order lunged, but my feet seemed to move on their own. I guess Aether was the last family I had, and it hit me like a punch in the gut."

Allie nodded breathlessly. Her own betrayal suddenly seemed juvenile compared to the atrocities of Order. Her blood seemed to boil as she thought of Lady Chaos's little brother and her heart gave a little thump.

"I backhanded him across the face. I always was a petite child, but in that moment, I felt rage just flood through me. All I could think was that even if I was to die, Aether would live to see that next day."

"He was always the good child, even if I was the favorite. He seemed so mature, far more qualified than me. He had been so perfect, and Order and I had constantly competed to be in his favor. He had that charisma that made people just..." she sighed wistfully. "Love him dearly."

The silence carried on for a minute, as Lady Chaos seemed to gather herself to speak.

"The bedroom was blasted apart. Order circled me, and I guarded Aether from harm as he tugged at me sleeve. No matter how much he was jealous of Aether, Order loved him. But he never loved me," she said.

"He had a cruel sense of humor, always wanting to destroy, just as I loved to create." She shook her head. "Finally, Order had had enough. He didn't care anymore, he just wanted power. He was past the point of sanity, or so I thought. As he was laughing, I remember telling Aether, _Go, go to the safe._ I handed him the key. Aether kissed my cheek. Before he left, he said, _I believe in you, Charlotte_. My full name. Then Aether was gone."

Allie felt the tiniest bit of hope that Aether might have lived.

"When Order finally realized what I'd done, his face drained of color. _No!_ He had roared, and started running as fast as he could. I raced after him, knowing he was going to my safe. I thought he was going to kill Aether. I was wrong."

She took another steadying breath. "What I didn't realize, was that before the murders of my parents, he had set a trap. A trap for _me_. He thought I would go to the safe, because I had placed multiple shields on it. It only could protect one person. He never dreamed that Aether would be the one in there. He thought I was too selfish for that."

She held her face in her hands and Allie wrapped an arm around her.

"The bombs went off."

Hugging her tighter, Allie tried to dispel the images from her mind.

"It was the worst moment of my existence. I realized that when Order attacked Aether, he never meant to kill him, but to take him away from me. Order never wanted Aether dead, he wanted to rule with him, side by side." Her voice sounded broken.

"Order didn't kill him, Atalanta. I did." She gave a sob and started to dry heave. "Everyone thinks I'm perfect, but I'm not. It's so hard. Everyday I know I don't deserve to be Leader, that it should have been Aether. But it's not, and it's all my fault."

Even the side of Athena, the calm, rational part of her, cried bitterly. Lady Chaos dry heaved and part of her breakfast came up. Allie held her hair back and rubbed her back, like her nannies had done for her.

"It's okay," she mumbled. "You're immortal, right?"

She gave another cry. "Aether was too! Order had a look of fury on his face, and he tried to kill me. I struck back, I wasn't thinking straight. I killed him too."

She shook her head softly. "I'm responsible for both of their deaths. I'm the worst sister in the world."

Allie hesitated, but knew she had to ask.

"Why are you telling me this?" She wondered.

"Order is..." Lady Chaos couldn't finish. "Order is reforming. He wants revenge."

"What about Aether?" She asked. "Isn't he reforming too?"

Lady Chaos shook her head. "When Order killed our parents, he used a cursed knife. When he plotted to murder me, he made the bombs impenetrable, and the shields around him doubled the radiation." Her voice sank. "It is unlikely I'll ever see Aether again. Even if he is reforming, it'll take...millions of millions of years."

Allie felt something wet on her face, and then realized she was crying.

I swore to protect Lacy. She thought dully. I was a bad sister too.

"You need to know this, because while you don't really know me, I've known you. When you were little, I would go into your dreams and make little fairies appear, and take away the nightmares. When you were seven, I stopped. I feared that the gods would discover my appearance and interrogate you."

Allie let out a tiny breath. Tristan had always said that she was a quiet child.

Lady Chaos frowned, leaning back and trying plaintively to put her hair back in it's neat bun.

"While I was convinced you were special, I never imagined that not one, but _both_ of you could be part of the prophecy."

Allie seemed to perk up. Prophecies, at least, she could understand and hate without confliction.

"What prophecy?" She asked immediately.

Lady Chaos drew her lips back into a snarl. "The prophecy that ruined my life," she spat. "The prophecy that made Order so paranoid that it was borderline evil. And that made him _become_ evil."

Allie didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry," she murmured honestly.

She didn't respond.

Allie tentatively asked her, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No," Lady Chaos said coldly, seeming to regain her composure. "I'm fine."

She breathed out heavily and Allie gasped as a flicker of flame appeared and the fire seemed to melt into a shape. A crumpled, worn yellow piece of parchment.

"Read it." Lady Chaos thrust the paper into Allie's hands.

"Aloud?" she inquired.

Lady Chaos nodded. "I want to hear it."

Drawing her eyes to the paper, Allie took a deep breath and started to read:

" _Through many years their hearts will learn,_

 _Two of them left, but three returned,_

 _Reconciled with traitorous minds,_

 _That they have yet to leave behind,_

 _To assist the minds of evil and greed,_

 _These purest souls shall not proceed,_

 _One will save them from their fate,_

 _One will die so full of hate."_

"Keep it," Lady Chaos muttered. "I have to go. I'll be back in a couple of hours to take you to your Master."

The door slammed shut.


	4. Chapter 4

After a couple of hours, Lady Chaos returned. She looked much better - her hair had been swept back into her majestic bun and she was adorned in a dress free of tear stains.

"Come on," she said apologetically. "I need to introduce you to some good friends of mine, last of all your Master. I really am sorry for leaving you alone."

"Are you the aspect of Hestia?" Allie inquired.

"Yeah," Lady Chaos said, summoning a slice of pizza. She held it out to Allie.

"Want it? You must be starving." Allie quickly accepted it, not realizing how hungry she was. Lady Chaos summoned another, folding it in half and gracefully nibbling the tip.

Allie gave a tiny snort, but it was enough to draw Lady Chaos's attention.

"What?" She asked quizzically.

"It's just… I didn't think it was possible to eat pizza formally," she said, chuckling.

Lady Chaos gave a small laugh too and stood up from her chair, opening the door. She waited for Allie to scramble off of the bed and walk awkwardly out the door. They navigated their way in the hospital, finally finding the exit after a couple of minutes.

"I don't know why," Lady Chaos said looking irritable, even in her Hestia persona. "the hospital doesn't have a map. This is supposed to be my planet isn't it? I should order maps. Many, many, maps."

Shaking her head, Allie pushed open the large door.

As soon as she stepped outside, Allie felt as if she was swimming in mud. Looking around, Allie saw a majestic city that seemed to rise from the ground. Strangely, she noticed that the land seemed shrouded in black mist. She blinked once, twice, and the mirage faded. Lady Chaos put a hand on her shoulder as if proud. All that she could see was a wet marsh with a few weeds.

"It is beautiful isn't it? I remember the day I created it." Lady Chaos smiled, relishing the memory. "I was so young and carefree back then." Allie was pretty confused. Lady Chaos opened her mouth again but stopped when she saw the look on her face. She sighed as if she'd already gone through this.

"I know it's weird, but try to believe in the power of imagination." Lady Chaos looked at her encouragingly. Allie squinted skeptically, trying to imagine people of all shapes and sizes wandering around.

After a few minutes of staring hard at the blank landscape, a few blurry details began to emerge. A lady laughed, swatting a man on his arm. A baby gurgled cheerfully as an old woman rocked it gently back and forth.

They were standing on the edge of a city, a huge one at that. The buildings solidified, and she was astounded. It's New York, she thought dizzily. Multiplied fifty million times in fifty different directions.

The skyline was a brilliant blue and the sun was also setting. In a few seconds, the sky was painted red and gold.

"So, um, Lady Chaos," she began, not really knowing what to say. "Er, who are the other people on this planet?" She groaned, and Allie could tell she was thinking about Damien.

"Who do you think? It's mostly mortals, but in rare cases, demigods. In even more scarce circumstances, elementals, like yourself. But most beings on this planet are extremely old, more than seven millennia at the youngest." Allie nodded, feeling as if nothing could faze her.

However, as she saw some of the children hovering above the ground, she felt a stab of doubt.

"I still don't really understand why you made me your apprentice," Allie said again. "Percy… He's brilliant and powerful. I know why you chose him. But me? I'm completely average. My powers are limited."

Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, they are, Atalanta." She said sharply. "And they will be if you keep that attitude. You have to think about what you _can_ be capable of, not what you are in the moment. If keep underestimating yourself, you'll never improve."

Allie opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"I let Damien mope for a while, but I'm not going to allow you to do that. You are a female and I expect more from you. I want to see the confident girl I chose on the Argo ll." She snapped her fingers.

"I'll do what's best for you, and sometimes that means slapping the sadness out in return for anger. Everyone here has a dark past, and you're no exception. You're training isn't for you to be babied. I want to make that perfectly clear."

Allie paused for a second, but nodded. "You're right," she muttered ashamedly. "I'm sorry. I'm not going to turn into a teenage drama seeker."

Lady Chaos kissed her lightly on the forehead, looking more motherly by the second. "And you already have somebody your trust." Allie nodded, thinking reluctantly of Damien. She wondered if it was a matter of time before he betrayed her.

She ruffled Allie's hair just like Damien had done. "You have to be completely comfortable in your body to discover your elemental secret." Allie cocked her head to the side, but shrugged, deciding to figure it out later.

For the rest of the afternoon, she was led around by Lady Chaos, trying out new things, and doing things that would, on _earth,_ be considered a freaking _death sentence_. Allie ate a seaweed and ice cream sandwich – which was actually Damien's invention – and played with poisonous sharks in the bathing suit that Lady Chaos lent her.

Needless to say, she stayed alive the entire time. Thankfully.

So many things fell into place that day. Allie met countless people, and discovered that the planet was much bigger that it had first appeared to be.

Lady Chaos explained that there were four main planets orbiting around theirs, somewhat like the sun and the earth. In fact, the earth was one of the planets orbiting, but Chaos took special lengths to confirm that the gods never found them.

Each of the planets had two leaders, unlike this exceptional one, Meriopeua, the most powerful, and under Lady Chaos' control (she was the leader).

Fortunately, all of the leaders were kind and completely interested in her background, offering to give Allie a tour around the planet.

"You can tour a planet in one day?" She had asked, then immediately looked away, her face burning. Of course not, she had told herself stupidly. God, I'm turning into Percy.

Allie had met Sarah and Joshua, the leaders of Planet four, the least powerful: Neptune. Even though it had the least plasma in the planet's core, it still represented a strong element: water. Additionally, Jupiter signified wind, Vulcan stood for fire and Gaea, as much as Allie despised it, personified… earth.

Sarah was a kind and sweet, friendly girl. She had explained that planet Neptune was mainly dominated by water. A while ago, she and Joshua had found the garden of a Nymph who had been experimenting with illegal dangerous chemicals. They had originally been furious, but the nymph had demonstrated the uses for the plants and they finally relented.

She had grown more and more of the plant, and the mythical power gave all from Neptune the ability to communicate to different ocean animals. All the Neptune citizens have the advantage over the element of water; in other words, they can bend the water to their will, control it, and even make a useful weapon tactic with the ability. It's similar to the more powerful descendants of Poseidon.

Sarah was fairly tall for her age, matching Allie in height. She looked about sixteen on the outside, but Allie know that Sarah must have had at least several million years of experience. She had adorable dimples and always seemed to wear a smile. While her bubbly attitude never wavered, her eyes seemed to calculate everything coldly.

"To be honest," she told Allie, "I've been wanting to retire for a while, and I know the other guardians feel the same. I mean, I have a great life. I just want to, I don't know, settle down. I think I know what Chaos has planned for you, so I needn't worry too long," she added with a grin.

A few minutes later, Allie couldn't help but smirk as she saw Sarah punch a boy in the face. Normally, she'd go over and help him, but after watching him saunter up and put his arm around her, Allie was tempted to do it herself.

Sarah proceeded to ignore the boy, who was sitting on the ground looking stunned, and casually asked the other leader what was for supper.

Josh introduced himself as a demigod son of Poseidon, in other words, Damien's half brother. Unlike him though, Josh had brown hair and icy green eyes. Allie acknowledged that she hadn't seen him fight yet, but she reasoned he must be good. He was one of the leaders of Neptune for a reason.

The next planet, Jupiter, was lead by Abigail and Jake. They both had blonde hair and had power over the element of air. Both Allie and Damien took one look at Abigail and walked away. They took a few minutes to compose themselves, then forced themselves to go back and look into the mirror image of Thalia's eyes.

They were both extremely bright and perky and Allie almost swore they were twins. Jake was practically a male version of Abigail. They seemed more like siblings though, and they fought all during the conversation.

Abigail seemed pretty nice. As one of the only people come from earth, she had already earned a lot of respect, despite being one of the newer recruits. She styled her dirty blonde hair in a bun, with some of the locks dyed blue, saying that it "changed with the weather".

Though Abigail made it clear she wasn't a demigod, she admitted that her mother was a daughter of Zeus. To prove the point, she managed to summon a few weak sparks of electricity, sighing and showing that it was pretty much useless.

In a mock spar, Allie noticed that she fought mostly with agility. It became quite clear that for Abigail, at least, speed was her main technique. She had easily disarmed Allie in a matter of seconds. All the time, Allie felt more and more eager to be introduced to her master and start her training.

Jake introduced himself as a mortal: born and raised on Jupiter. With sunny blonde hair and a warm smile, Allie immediately classified him as a heartbreaker. He grudgingly explained that when he was young, he was sent away to learn kajukenbo, an old fighting technique. He trained for seven years until he was eighteen, and then refused to go back to his family.

Allie didn't really know what to think of him. He seemed really lighthearted and mischievous, but at the same time, deadly.

The leaders of Vulcan, Freya and Michel were also equally welcoming. Freya had no shame in announcing that she was a daughter of Hephaestus. She seemed to be a carbon copy of Annabeth, strict, intellectual and fierce. However, she had hair the color of blood and gentle brown eyes.

She had smiled sadly, and walked away, saying that she'd rather Michel explain. He cast a angry look at the ground, saying that a few hundred years ago, it was common for Vulcan to bless his children as fire users. Freya had been the only one to escape before World War ll, in which most of the fire users were brutally slaughtered.

Allie had fallen silent, refusing to let her eyes stray to the deep scars on Freya's face. The girl had smiled in silent thanks and continued to read quietly.

Apparently, Lady Chaos had rescued Freya just before her death sentence. Michel finished, shuffling his feet awkwardly. After a few more minutes, Freya returned to the conversation, reading a different book. For the first time, Allie noticed the knife strapped on the inside of Michel's boot. She wondered if she had been blind enough to miss the rest of the hidden weapons on the rest of the leaders.

Sure enough, when she inspected Freya more closely, she saw little triangular knives disguised as earrings.

 _Nice_ , she thought, feeling impressed.

Michal seemed upbeat and impulsive; he told her that he was mortal and from the planet Neptune. Surprisingly, he didn't like water like the other children and preferred fire. Eventually, Lady Chaos asked him to transfer to Vulcan, and eventually, appointed him leader. He had jet black hair, and proved himself to be an expert at mechanics, finding every possible tool to use. Both of them seemed to be less social than the other leaders, but still greeted her with a warm welcome, and invited her to sit by the hearth.

The last planet, earth, had no leaders. It was ruled by the gods.

After a few frustrating hours, Allie had gotten the basics. After Lady Chaos had made her recite them a few times, and she was ready to faint from exhaustion.

Whichever planet you are born in, if you joined Lady Chaos's force, you were immediately were teleported to the homeroom where the leaders of the planet were. For five hardcore days, they trained you dry, and tested your abilities.

You were given a rank in the army, and a chance to move up, or down. Occasionally, Lady Chaos sent some of her army to other planets to help resolve conflict, but only times of great need.

Allie raised her eyebrow. "I still find it strange that you didn't consider Gaea waking up a "time of great need"," she said, completely deadpan.

"Well, you needed to prove yourselves," Said Lady Chaos shrugging. For the first time, Allie felt a pinprick of anger. Was my - _our_ lives so worthless that it didn't matter if we had died?

She swallowed a surge of resentment.

That afternoon, Allie and Lady Chaos sat in a quiet booth in the corner of a sausage restaurant. Eventually, after sitting in awkward silence, Allie decided to ask her about the battle.

"Lady Chaos?" She began, but Lady Chaos interrupted.

"Please, just call me Chaos." Allie shrugged, but it felt wrong somehow. A mischievous smile made it's way up to her face.

"Okay Lady Chaos," she said agreeably.

The creator sighed. "Why…?"

Allie kept to the subject.

"What happened at the battle?" She asked. "I don't understand how I was able to… conjure black fire."

"It is an ability of mine that was passed on to you," Lady Chaos replied immediately. Her eyes burst into flame. "And that is only a few of the properties of the flame element."

"But you only gave me the powers a few days ago. The battle was over a year ago." Allie pointed out.

"That is where you are wrong," She retaliated. "I gave you a tiny portion of my power a month after you were born. The power was so small that your body only needed to adjust for a couple of hours. By the time Tristan McLean came back in the morning, you were completely fine.

I did the same to Percy, though it was hard. Percy has the sweetest mother: Sally Jackson. She was in love with her son and would check on him every couple of minutes. I was forced to give him the power in that short time, and when her mother came back she thought he was sleeping."

Allie smiled a little, feeling happy for her friend. "But why had I just discovered the power in the battle?" Lady Chaos snapped her fingers and a silver doorway appeared to her left. Allie gazed at it quizzically.

"Let's find out, no?" Lady Chaos invited her by gracefully offering her hand. Allie took it, and together they stepped into the fine mist. The world disappeared in an eclipse of light, and when the fog cleared, Allie was standing in quite a different background.

A single girl stood in the archery range, shooting bulls-eye, one after the other. She had a silver circlet braided into her long black hair, which was slung together in a ponytail. Her stance was precise, and she didn't have a hair out of place.

She was wearing black jeans similar to Allie's own, and also a black tank top. The girl redid her footing and drew back the quiver. With a _chhk_ sound, the arrow flew and sliced apart the first one, hitting dead center on the target.

"Zoë!" Lady Chaos spoke with a voice of silk. The girl spun around, her arrow aimed at them. She dropped it as she recognized Lady Chaos.

"Commander Chaos," she said dipping her head respectfully. "What brings you here?" Lady Chaos just laughed.

"That is no way to speak to an old friend," she protested. "Why is it whenever I ask a person to simply call me by my name I get denied?"

The girl let out a tinkling laugh. "You are the creator of the universe. You've never gotten enough credit."

Lady Chaos smiled fondly at her. After a few seconds, she seemed to remember that Allie was also there.

"Ah… Zoë, this is Allie, who was until two years ago called Piper." The girl spun gracefully on her toes and turned to face her. Allie finally took in her appearance.

"Ziana?" She managed to stutter. "What?"

"This is Zoë Nightshade." Lady Chaos said gently. Allie looked at her in disbelief.

"No," she said confusedly. "That's Ziana. But shouldn't you be old? Or… old _er?_ "

She snorted, somehow managing to make it look regal. "I appreciate that, but I hope for your sake that it was sarcasm."

"She is my good friend," Lady Chaos added. "She helped me guard you from harm." Allie rubbed her head, wondering how she got mixed up in all of this.

"This is so confusing," Allie mumbled. "Not to be ungrateful, but you know I've almost died like fifteen times, right?"

Lady Chaos frowned at her. "Well, sometimes, that's the best she can do," she pointed out. "Without her, at this moment, you'd be dead."

Any more protests flew out of her mouth. Lady Chaos continued. "She also needed to protect Jason, because she knew if he died you'd be heartbroken, and therefore couldn't become her apprentice."

"Wait _her_ apprentice? I'm her apprentice?" Allie rubbed her head some more. "How long has she been watching me?"

"Young people, acting like I'm not here," Ziana, Zoë, whoever she was, huffed.

Lady Chaos rolled her eyes, looking more modern than ever. "Don't be a spoilsport Zoë. And since you were two, Allie."

Her jaw dropped. "Since… I - two?" She managed to stammer.

Zoë looked amused. "Well, your grammar needs some work," she said, grinning.

Allie rolled her eyes, trying to force down her smile.

"You didn't think I'd leave you defenseless, did you?" Lady Chaos asked doubtfully, and Allie felt a surge of relief. "And did you really think that you were lucky enough to never encounter a monster until age 16?"

Allie shrugged. The idea sounded stupid now, even to her.

"Really though? Why did you attack me?" She asked eventually. _Even if you did let me go_ , she thought.

Zoë frowned. "I _am_ sorry for attacking you. I wanted to see how much you had improved." There was a glimmer of longing in her eyes. "I saw my sisters again, Commander."

Lady Chaos nodded. "I presume they was well, Zoë?"

She grinned, laughing heartily. "Ah, yes. I am also proud of Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Milady made the right choice."

Allie jolted, her heart suddenly hammering. She didn't want to know, but at the same time, she felt as if she would combust.

"Lady Chaos?" She asked uncertainly. "Where's Thalia? Is she still alive?"

Lady Chaos looked depressed. "Yes, she is," she said quietly. "But you should know… your friend, Pluto's daughter..." She didn't finish.

"Dead?" She said hoarsely.

"Dead." The creator confirmed. Allie couldn't let herself cry. Not here, she told herself. Later.

"Who else died?" Allie demanded fiercely, a passion in her voice that hadn't been there before. " _Who else died?_ "

"Nobody!" Lady Chaos assured her. "Nobody you care about."

 _Thank the gods,_ she thought out of habit.

"And Annabeth?" Allie asked out of curiously.

"The same." Zoë's voice was tinged with fury. "She has brought dishonor upon her sisters. _My_ sisters. Lady Artemis only grudgingly accepted her oath, under the pressure of Athena."

"So Thalia's definitely alive?" Allie confirmed, wondering if she was going crazy.

Zoë nodded, "Yes, that _is_ what I just said. Why?"

She shrugged. "No reason," Allie said softly, imagining Annabeth's dead broken body splayed out on the ground. "No reason at all."

Zoë led her around after that. Allie expected Lady Chaos had more important things to do. She was sick of being a bother anyway. She and Zoë visited important monuments and covered discipline. Apparently what Lady Chaos taught her had just been the basics. She had cussed when she'd heard that.

After, Allie had studied the rules of the country over a couple of months. Privately tutored by Zoë, it steadily got harder and harder. When Zoë finally tested her, she managed to get 98%, which was higher than Allie was expecting. It was deemed a "pass".

Finally, training had begun. Instead of working all night on a chart, Allie was now forced to get up early in the morning. It was still five in the morning on her first day.

"Up!" Zoë had barked. "Up! _Now_!"

Allie had jolted from her sleep.

"Zoë… what's going on? Was having dream… with muffins." She yawned tiredly.

"Zoë? Who's Zoë? I am Master now." She had replied firmly. "We begin at dawn."

Allie sighed, "But it's not even dawn! The sun isn't even up! The muffins are floating away..."

Zoë rolled her eyes. "You want me as your Master? Get up in five. I'll see you in the kitchen."

Allie groaned into her pillow, but five minutes later she had gotten dressed and walked out the door.

"Good," Zoë admitted reluctantly. "Practical clothing."

Allie: 1 Zoë: 0

Allie smirked triumphantly, not realizing she was going to pay for it. In sweat. And a large amount of blood.

Allie: 1 Zoë: 999

"Put your back into it!" Zoë roared. " _FIGHT_!"

"I'm t-trying," Allie panted. "You're not letting me… rest."

"In a battle, do they let you rest?" Zoë snarled. "No! They kill you! This is _mercy_ , Allie!"

" _M-mercy_?" She screamed back. " _I feel fucking dead!_ "

"Well too bad," Zoë retorted with slightly less bite. She slashed Allie's thigh. "You want to be an apprentice? Prove to me you're not weak! Prove it!"

Allie shot her a furious look. She could barely think straight. She was sick with exhaustion and fatigue. This was almost worse than the battle.

"Yes," Zoë said, suddenly menacing. "Lady Chaos told me. She told me everything. About how you were too scared to do anything, how, you thought people were gonna _stab you in the back,"_ she mimicked her, taking on a high pitched ditzy voice. Allie felt a wave of betrayal.

Her eyes glowed. Later, Zoë would say pink. And then blue. Then green. Allie would remember it being beautiful, and Zoë would remember it as her worst nightmare.

She remembered Zoë looking a strange combination of proud and terrified.

Then Allie blacked out.

Allie: 1 Zoë: 1000

\- Linebreak -

Allie reluctantly accepted Zoë's apology and began to refer to her as Master. After a while, she noticed that she and Damien began to see each other less and less. When Allie had asked Zoë why she couldn't train with him, she had simply replied, "Because you are not ready." Allie rarely got to see him after that.

All that she knew was that he was being trained as hard as her, but with a different coach.

Zoë became her personal trainer. She worked Allie incredibly hard. For the next two months Zoë was relentless. Allie lifted weights, jumped rope, ran miles, shot arrows, and even learned the more subtle tactics for defense and offence swordplay.

Allie grew more flexible and practiced a hunter's grace. She had survived in the woods for months by making her own shelter and identifying berries. She learned how to fall from one hundred meters above and land unharmed. She could dodge one twenty arrows fired at once.

But there was still a problem. Allie could never beat Zoë.

Master was firm, and always right. She had to push Allie to see how strong she could get, and at her absolute limit, Allie would be ready for _real_ training. It took another six months before she passed.

In that time, Allie could shoot the bull's-eye continuously for days before she relented. She could double all of the records she had set. Allie could fight without sight, hearing or smell, and hit any target less than seventy meters away. She could throw knives with an unbeatable degree of accuracy and also learned to fight with a shield and sword.

She was trained control her elements too. Allie learned to deflect blows with water. She was trained to strangle people with the wind, sucking the air out of their lungs. Taught to lash out and disintegrate with fire. And directed to trap enemies in earth, frozen and preserved.

She could freeze water, heat it up, and create sharp jagged pieces of ice frozen supported by wind waiting for her command. Allie was trained to be a relentless warrior. She could create fire tornados, wind and water hurricanes, and prisons made singularly from debris. She was trained to be guardian.

Allie fought a legion of skeletons and singlehandedly transported them to hell. She could fly like Jason using the winds to support her, and could communicate in the basic levels with animals. Unfortunately, Allie hardly used any of that sort in her final test.

It had been six months since she arrived. It'd been two and a half years since she was Piper. It's been that long.

Allie stood defiantly in the arena, ready to pass her final challenge. Damien had passed it. It had taken him a while, but he had done it, only a few days ago even. Allie still had no idea what she was facing, but she had a pretty good idea.

Drakons? she wondered, her arms tensing up. Five, maybe. Six, with some luck. Seven… she winced.

Allie was wearing her regular outfit, all of her hidden blades protecting her like armor. It was extremely light and comfortable. She could move this way and that, with no strain or chinks that prevented her from using her entire agile body through the protection. She was heavily armed; Allie had twenty-one sheathed knives at her disposal, which included Katoptris. Millions of ice shards were pointed at the doorway.

Lady Chaos chose to be present for her final test.

She bit her lip, forcing herself to stop worrying. Concentrate, she chanted repeatedly. Concentrate...

The guard at the doorway shouted an order, and the gates shuddered and lifted, revealing her opponent. Allie had expected a huge monstrous being, so when she saw a lone figure standing in the dust she was stupefied. Allie dropped all her icicles and they broke as they hit the ground with a smash. The figure walked towards me confidently.

The person had a powerful walk and had a quiver and arrows strapped to her back. She had two sheathed swords strapped to her waist. She was covered in armor, covering her face so that she was unidentifiable. Allie couldn't hold back the nagging suspicion she was smiling under the mask.

Allie unsheathed ten knives, wielding them between her fingers like claws.

Lady Chaos started to speak, smiling. "You have one hour. The first to yield loses. Your fight begins…" She glanced at the clock. "Now."

Allie lunged at her opponent, but she dodged easily. The masked female swung three of her knives over her head to gain every possible speed of momentum. Allie closed her eyes and in a split second of choice thrust her hand at her.

Allie realized, that unintentionally she had made a mistake. You idiot! She thought to herself. Keep your eyes on her. Eyes on her.

Allie dragged her eyes away from the stands as a jagged knife skimmed her arm. In retaliation, Allie threw another three knives at her breastplate, stomach and helmet. All killing points.

The knives sailed uselessly under the fighter. Flipping, she found a ledge just inside the arena. She got her bow and dislodged it from her shoulder. Watching her every move, she drew her arrow and released the quiver. Before Allie had time to dodge, the arrow was embedded in her shoulder. She screamed in pain.

What… she thought. My training. What happened?

She kept low, staying on the tips of her toes. Snarling, Allie pulled the bloody arrow out of the wound and threw it to the ground. A huge flame whip fired to life in her hands, and Allie grinned at her- or where she had been. She was gone. Allie spun around aimlessly.

The fighter's head was cocked to the side.

"I don't do fire," she said calmly, before the whip was rendered useless in her hands, smoking. It fell to the floor.

"W-what?" Allie was shell-shocked. This had never happened before.

Concentrating, Allie shot a gust of wind from where she was standing, aiming to trip her up. She jumped up to a different ledge, before the previous one was dislodged. Allie growled in frustration, trying to think of how she could actually use her agility to trap her.

I'm no Einstein, Allie admitted quietly to herself. She conjured a shield of earth while she thought furiously. Nothing. Again. Allie shook her head tiredly. That just left straight out offence.

She summoned a ball of black fire in her hands, before throwing it directly at her opponent's face. The fighter deflected the blow. Allie, not for the first time that day, felt rage course through her body.

Why is she not facing me? She inwardly snarled. Why did she keep running away? Thirty spikes of solid ice formed in mid air, trapping her. They inched closer and closer.

Instead of bending down to yield as Allie had expected, she jumped up, escaping her prison and dodged them with the lithe skill of gymnast. Allie pelted her with fireballs, and she shot arrows from time to time.

She was a skilled archer, no doubt about that. Finally, Allie snapped. She had three arrows inside her body, and no more knives to throw (except Katoptris). Both her swords had melted from the heat and intensity of the fireballs, and she hardly had any energy left.

With the last of her strength, she let out a scream of defiance and a wall of water expanded, knocking her opponent off the ledge. Before she could get up, Allie ran over to her and held a large chip of ice at her throat. She froze.

"I yield." She spoke in a voice raspy from the smoke.

"I passed! I can't believe…" Allie trailed off. She stepped off her former opponent and offered her hand. The girl took it gratefully, and that's when she started to notice the little things.

Like, she was only a bit taller than Allie herself. From what she could see, the girl wore a simple black tank top and jeans. She had a plain black braid trailing from her head to her waist, and she stood with the air of confidence.

And so Allie was not shocked when she took off her helmet. She didn't know how she didn't realize it before. Allie had beaten Master.

"Oh my god." She screamed in amazement. She paused for a second. "I… I _passed!_ "

"You did a nice job," Zoë smiled warmly, her helmet gone. "The performance was brilliant!" Her eyes shone with pride and her normally serious face was lit up with glee. She gave Allie a hug, ignoring the singed smell that resulted.

"You passed!" Zoë declared, looking at Lady Chaos for approval. "Commander Chaos, do you agree?" Lady Chaos gave a satisfied nod.

"Yes, Allie. I think you've passed your test- you're certainly qualified." Allie grinned up at her.

"What do I do now?" She asked.

"As a special treat, you and Damien should get together and, I don't know, play some football." Lady Chaos chuckled. "He'll want to know all about your fight."

A devious smirk came across her face.

"Can I dump him with water? While he's blinded by surprise I can ask a squid to get his clothes inked out, if you know what I mean." Allie raised an eyebrow what she hoped was in evil scientist look.

A voice made itself known, dripping with sarcasm.

"Sure Als, that would've been a _wonderful_ prank if you hadn't just told me what it was. Now, I'm _expecting_ it." Allie spun around. Immediately a large bucket of water poured down on her, and a squid (which came out of freaking nowhere) used its tentacles to keep itself attached to her head. Allie screamed in fury.

"Damien Jackson… you…." She spluttered before being doused once again. "You. Are. Dead."

Hollering with laughter, he ran away from her, with Allie hot on his trail. The squid fell off. She chased him for over an hour before they both collapsed in exhaustion. Hyperspeed was a lot more draining than she'd thought it would be.

Allie sent a weak fireball where the sun don't shine. It sapped her remaining strength but it was worth it to hear his cry of annoyance. It was fair to say she'd had her revenge.

In the evening, Damien, his bottom still sore, sat gingerly on the seat. Lady Chaos, trying to sustain a laugh looked at her imploringly.

Allie shrugged. "He deserved it."

"It was _your_ plan!" Damien said indignantly

Allie just smirked. "You're right, it was. And you stole it from me. Which makes revenge technically legal."

He sighed, defeated, while Allie grinned triumphantly. Lady Chaos just looked confused.

"Wha…?" She started, then seemed to give it up.

The next day Allie woke up in her own time. She stretched and padded leisurely to the window. Glancing out of the crystal glass, she could see people bustling about and doing their daily business. Allie chuckled softly as she saw parents trying to teach their daughter to bike.

There was an old man tending to some flowers and a young lady selling a loaf of bread to a local. Allie looked at all this, and she couldn't help but think of herself as a tiny living thing, compared to the proportions of people out there.

She felt insignificant, but it wasn't necessarily a bad feeling.

Allie had always imagined everyone playing his or her role in the world. She'd thought of life as a puzzle. Everyone works together and joins to make something beautiful. Everyone has to take part, but if a piece was missing, the mystery is left unfinished.

Suddenly, the door separating her and Damien's rooms was flung open, jarring her back to reality.

" _Als_ ," He yelled. "It's _ten o' clock!_ You were supposed to _wake me up!_ " Damien had jeans and a half buttoned t-shirt on. He yanked it over his head and appeared to be looking for something. He grabbed a random shirt and started buttoning it up franticly. He found a belt and attempted to comb his hair with it.

Fail.

Damien gave Allie a look and she realized she hadn't moved.

"Earth to Allie." He waved a hand in front of her face and she blinked. "Lady Chaos. Late. Murder us. Yes?"

Realization dawned on her face, but she still felt confused. Allie looked quizzically at her alarm before registering it hadn't rung. The color drained from her face.

She cursed under her breath. Allie looked at him.

"Shoo. Go away. Bye." He ran away from her, slamming the door in a panicked hurry. Allie tossed open her closet and burrowed into it. She had to wear something Lady Chaos would like. Really like. Or Allie was metaphorically dead. She picked out a deep blue velvet dress, as it was Lady Chaos's favorite. It had soft blue lace adorned on the sleeves and neck.

Allie shed her warm pajamas, and slipped into her dress. She snatched a small necklace with a bright blue sapphire on it, and ran out the door. Allie skidded in the hallway, and then ran back in, realizing she had forgotten her hair. Her hair took another five minutes to comb. Allie styled it into a presentable bun, and then raced out the door. Again.

By the time she pushed open the doors to the dining hall, a thought had occurred to her. Allie refused to bring it to the surface, and spotted Lady Chaos and Damien sitting at the big table. Allie could feel her face burning as she walked over to join them, her dress suddenly feeling ridiculously formal.

Damien took one look at her and exploded, falling on the floor and laughing till' tears were leaking out of his eyes. He was wearing a plain white shirt, and a pair of jean shorts.

Oh right, _that's_ what I forgot, Allie realized. It's _training._

She sighed. _The first day of training with the ruler of the universe and I already messed up._

" _Als_ …" He said as he managed to stammer coherent word, still choked up with laughing.

He snorted, "You know we're training today, not going to a ball, yeah?" Allie's face burned as she stared at the ground.

"Sorry Lady Chaos. I forget." She shook her head dismissively.

"Oh I don't care about that. Your attire is something you should be proud off," Damien snickered, "though I do think you should change into some more comfortable clothes for your training session." She grinned at Allie, her eyes sparkling with humor.

"Wouldn't want to ruin that pretty dress, do you? It's my favorite you know." Allie rolled her eyes while cracking a smile. Master, no, _Zoë_ , had reminded her about a billion times.

"What?" Allie said in a mock hurt tone. "You care more about the dress than me? How could you!" Allie put her hand to her heart like a true drama queen. "And to believe I thought you loved me!" She sighed, fanning her face, quite pleased with her own acting.

What can I say? She thought smugly. I get it from my dad. It's a family thing.

She put her head in her hands and then raised it to the heavens.

"Am I not pretty enough for you? Are you with another woman? I gave up my heart for you!" Lady Chaos rolled her eyes, chortling, but Damien seemed to take the question to heart.

"No." He replied too fast. Damien stuttered, and then hesitated. Then he looked confused. "I- I mean, yes. Isn't it yes?" He looked nauseous. "…Wait, uh, what…?"

Allie facepalmed even as her heart pounded. In situations like this it often decides to have a mind of it's own. Her heart always seemed to believe she's in a running race. Traitor.

Lady Chaos looked at Damien, smiling like the Cheshire cat. "Well, well, well. Damien Jackson." Allie rolled her eyes at her tone. Perhaps she was in her Hera mood.

"Did you or did you _not_ just call Allie pretty." Her eyebrows was raised and her rosy pink lips were quirked into the tiniest of smirks. I take it back, Allie thought regretfully. I think she's in her love zone. (It's a thing. Don't question my logic.)

He looked around awkwardly, a faint pink rising to his cheeks. "Uh, no." Allie gave him a disbelieving snort. He pouted childishly, puffing out his cheeks like a blowfish and slouching as if on a time-out. "Ok, maybe a little. It was on instinct!" He defended, waving his hands in the air, before finally resting them in the universal peace sign.

"Excuse me if I don't want to be female roadkill," he mumbled, still bright red.

Aphrodite… ahem. Chaos, cooed. Allie did the natural thing that anyone would have done. She sighed. Looking up at Damien with her eyebrows raised, Allie realized the conversation had just increased in awkwardness. She grumbled to herself, ruffling her dress to at least save _some_ dignity.

"Well then," She told them, mainly to keep the faint blush off her face. "I'll go change into my train wear." She walked calmly out of the room with the lacy hem from her dress trailing behind her. As soon as the doors were closed, she smacked herself as hard as she could.

Allie walked up her sixteenth flight of stairs. She had learned a long time ago that climbing up was ten times harder than running down. Especially in heels.

Ugh, guys get it all, don't they? She thought irritably.

Allie grinned as she remembered Damien's beet red face. She took her key from her pocket and thrust open the door. Immediately, Allie heard a cawing from above.

"Hey Flash." The phoenix greeted her by dipping his feathered head.

"How was your day?" Flash cocked his head to the side, thinking. He shrugged as if to say, 'I dunno'. Allie smiled and beckoned. He flew gracefully over to her and nudged affectionately. She sighed.

"Sorry Flash. I forget the peppermints again." He let out a mournful cry. Allie ruffled his feathers.

"You might not understand girl problems, Flashie." He cawed in disdain. He hated that nickname. "C'mon Flashie," she murmured jokingly. "You know you love me." He hesitated, then went off to perch on her shoulder.

"Good boy," she cooed. He nuzzled the side of her head.

Flash gave one last elegant cry and flew out her window. Allie reminded herself to buy peppermints from the store the next time she had a chance.

Feeling much more positive, Allie opened the closet doors, sifting through the clothes to see which ones would be right for training. She was finally satisfied with some comfortable leggings and a simple white tank top. She tied her hair back in a red bandana because she hated when her hair was all over her face.

Jeez, She thought when she looked in the mirror. I look like _Clarisse_. All I need is a spear and a shield, and I'm set. Allie sighed absentmindedly, locked the door behind her and headed off to the arena.

Allie blinked, shaking her head in sudden realization. Why am I even walking? She wondered. Allie waved her hand and was instantly covered in a thin layer of flame as if she was coated in gasoline. As if thinking about which button to press in a time machine, Allie made a mental picture of the arena, and closed her eyes.

"What the-" Damien managed to yell before she was dumped on top of him. Oops. Allie looked sheepishly down at him.

"It's ok Damien. I like your concern though. I'm fine, you cushioned my fall." She smiled brightly at him, and helped him up.

He grumbled and stretched, his back cracking. " _You don't say_."

Allie flipped her hair dramatically, like one of those fancy models on TV. "Actually, I _do_ say." Dropping the attitude, she smiled genuinely.

"Eh, sorry. I haven't mastered teleportation yet." She smirked at Damien's disbelief.

"You can _teleport_?" Allie nodded proudly. He looked at Lady Chaos and she shrugged, not seeming to care too much.

"Destiny's just faster at learning. She's on lesson 102 already." Allie grinned, knowing full well that Damien was only at level 96 of training. Mentally, she had a huge grin on. Damien could probably tell.

 _Hell yeah, munchkin_ , she sent the message over to him.

He looked like he was going to have a seizure. His left eye twitched continuously and Allie couldn't help but burst out laughing. He looked surprised, and took a step back.

"What's so funny?" He looked around a little warily. "Is there something on my face? Or did you attach a squid on my head?" Allie snorted and mimicked him.

He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "It's the squid, isn't it?"

 _Nope_ , she thought cheerfully. _Your eye twitched like a fly's!_ She paused for a second. _You know, if flies had eyelids._

Allie admitted, she may have overplayed the eye twitch a little, but his reaction was hilarious. He spluttered. He blushed profusely. He was absolutely speechless.

Lady Chaos laughed along with her and Damien when he had finally recovered.

"Fine, maybe my eye twitched a _little_." Damien muttered. Allie mimicked his eye twitch. _Yup_ , she thought. _A little_. Damien socked her in the arm.

She grunted at the impact.

I mean, she thought, I know he's only on level 96 **,** but… ow. Damien could sure pack a punch. She couldn't help but feel a smidge of pride. That however, was easily covered up by the pain. Allie rubbed her arm gently, tracing small circles around the blossoming red skin. A blush bloomed on Damien's cheeks and he looked horrified.

 _Sorry Pipes_ , he winced. _I didn't know it would hurt like that._ Allie frowned. _I'm not Pipes,_ she tried to say back. _I'm not even Piper…_ The words wouldn't come. _My name's Allie now._ Somehow, she didn't believe it.


	5. Chapter 5

Allie sighed, pulling herself out of another daydream. Training was hard and grueling work. She heaved herself up from the ground and took Damien's hand. He had disarmed her, _again_. Allie glared at him. He just shrugged. The deal was no powers; just blunt skill. Unfortunately, Damien excelled in this topic. Allie, on the other hand…

She glowered at him, getting Katoptris out again. He held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Want me to go easy on you?" She glared some more.

"Ouch," he said looking rather frightened. "Alright. I won't go easy on you."

She lifted her chin and raised Katoptris in her hammer grip.

Here we go, she thought to herself. Allie slashed down in a horizontal line. Riptide swept it away and parried her attack. She feinted a strike, hoping to make him think she was aiming left. It worked. Allie dropped into a roll just under his blade and knocked his skull with the flat of her dagger, catching him just above the spine.

Damien fell to the ground after losing consciousness and Allie whooped in delight. She did a little celebratory dance around his body, even going as far as grabbing a small silver pen out of her pocket. Smirking, she illustrated a masterpiece on his face.

 _I'll call it Mustache-Mania_ , Allie thought with a flourish. Still dancing, she gave her best evil laugh.

"Ha," she added, just for good measure.

Allie wished she'd noticed that his eyes flashed open at the last word. She was flipped off balance, and looked up to see a smirking Damien. He held out his hand, and Allie groaned.

"Back to square one," she said glumly.

As soon as Allie had arrived back at her house, she found a note at her bedside: _Allie – You will have to dress extremely formal tonight. Freya and Michel are arriving for important business. They have worrying news. – Chaos_

Allie sighed. All Damien had to do was change into a cool flannel shirt and one of those slip-on bow ties. As a girl, she had to wear a horrible dress, put on layers upon layers of itchy makeup and braid her hair into some ridiculously complicated bun. And the heels. The equivalent to torture. Allie gave herself five minutes to rest before bracing herself for the agony to come.

When Lady Chaos had brought them to the planet, she had firmly said that it would be unacceptable to leave recruits with nothing. When she and Damien had protested, Lady Chaos had just raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips. That was the end of the argument.

That included purses, makeup, shoes, casual, training _and_ formal attire. And as if that wasn't _enough_ , she also bought her enough hair styling booklets to last _millennia._ And as much as she hated repeatedly training (also known as sweating like a pig class) she preferred it to this. Allie groaned as she started to get ready. It was two hours before the dinner for gods sake!

-Linebreak-

Allie had picked out her dress. After searching for at least an hour, she finally found exactly what she was looking for. It was made of soft, pale, silk, the color she'd always thought as pearly pink. It was glossy and it fit her exactly, like all of the clothes did. It was strapless, and Allie thought the dress made her skin tone look pretty for once. She felt like the little mermaid just admiring it. It was beautiful.

Allie tried on the dress and half expected it to have some major flaw, as the others previously did. She was pleasantly surprised. She spun around in delight, watching how the gentle silk gleamed and shimmered. Flawless. It looked like one of the fairytale dresses you see in the movies. The hem was extremely long like a ball gown and trailed all the way to her feet.

It was cut off in small frills, but it was gentle, like tiny ripples. Allie was thankful, because unlike the other dresses Chaos had her model, it was extremely comfortable, lightweight and flexible. She got the feeling she'd found her new favorite dress.

Allie styled her hair into a braided bun, with the small braided strands trailing gracefully across the bun, and finally going inside it. A few locks were left to hang limply by her cheekbones. The trick, she thought carefully, was not to let any makeup touch the dress or the hair.

So even though it made her look absolutely ridiculous, over the dress she put on a complimentary bathrobe and a shower cap. Allie laughed as she stared at her reflection.

She scrubbed her face and dried it with a towel. She looked blotchy in the mirror, and for a split second she wondered if she could get away with no makeup. Allie slouched in her chair as she dismissed the idea. Allie shrugged and started with the basics. She added some eyeliner to her lower eyelids and decided they looked… presentable. She started applying lip-gloss when the door swung open. It was Damien.

"Hey Als," He said entering the room. "Can you help m-" He froze as he caught sight of what she was doing.

"You know what?" He asked. "I think I hear Chaos yelling. Duty calls…" He sheepishly exited the room, closing the door behind him. Allie rolled her eyes. Last year, she had given him an unusual Christmas present - _How Not to Annoy a Girl_ (Volume 1). The first rule: Never interrupt her while doing makeup. Ever.

Allie sighed and added a tiny tint of blush to her cheekbones. There, perfect. Allie had always sworn never to wear mascara. Just the thought of a girl pulling out her eyelids made her want to vomit… Plus, she had always thought that mascara and eyeliner together was far too much.

Actually, she thought, all makeup is far too much.

Allie wouldn't normally care but it was ' _extremely formal attire'_ as Lady Chaos so deftly put it. Everyone else, including Lady Chaos would be dressed the same. Allie had to do her part as the apprentice of society. Even if it meant putting on a little makeup and waiting for it to start itching.

There it goes, Allie thought irritably. She hissed in annoyance, and resisted the urge to scratch it.

In half an hour's time, Allie was ready to go. Walking calmly out of the room, she paced with an air of regality. Allie took slow, practiced steps as her dress trailed gently behind her. Allie pushed open the doors and see Freya beaming at her. Michal gave a wave so tiny that she almost missed it.

"Hey," she whispered excitedly, looking almost happy. Lady Chaos shot her a disapproving glance. Freya looked away. Allie blinked in surprise, hardly recognizing the person in front of her. Freya's eyes had changed. Last month, they had been filled with sadness and generosity. Tonight they seemed angry and almost bold. Allie sent them a smile, settling down between Damien and Lady Chaos.

Looking across the table, she could see that Freya was dressed in shimmering gold satin. Every time she moved or shifted; it would reflect the color of the light and a fiery shade of pale red flashed briefly. She looked like royalty in the gleaming lamplight. Allie smiled softly. The dress was perfect for her. Her red hair was curled in little circlets as they hung loosely around her neck. She didn't really braid or plait it at all. It was naturally beautiful.

Michel was not dressed as fancy. He wore a plain black tux with a small bow tie. His undershirt looked amazingly crisp and ironed, and he sat straight despite his bulky figure. He smiled warmly at her when he saw Allie analyzing him. She grinned back, sending him a thumbs up. He seriously looked like a penguin, flippers and all.

Damien was dressed in a black tux. His shirt was white, but it had a tiny tint of sea green. His tie was engraved blue on green with his name, and his messy black hair was blown back and it looked windswept. Allie shot him a tiny grin and he returned with a smirk, sticking out his tongue and making a funny face. She stifled a giggle, and focused on the task at hand.

Lady Chaos was dressed in an elegant gown, the one she'd been wearing when she had woken Allie up. Her skin was milky white, and her feet were in dainty black heels. Her neckline was adorned in elegant black lace and contrasted her pale skin tone perfectly. Her hair was plaited in braids, similar to Allie's own.

Chaos smiled down at her, and Allie sat a little straighter. She grinned at her friends and Michel and Freya shot her identical troublesome smiles. It was so out of character that she coughed into her napkin in surprise. Lady Chaos cleared her throat impatiently. A puff of air symbolized the arrival of our servers.

A small angelic cloud nymph called Ellie grinned impishly at her. Allie smirked back.

"Hey Ellie." She stuck her tongue at her and didn't reply.

Allie laughed, and smiled warmly at her friend.

"So, watcha want?" Allie rolled her eyes.

"Um…" She shrugged. "Probably some pumpkin soup? I haven't had that in a long time."

The nymph shrugged jokingly. "Coming right up, Milady." When Allie had her share ordered, Ellie nodded and her food appeared.

"Thanks Ellie," She whispered to the invisible nymph. She patted Allie's head, still invisible, and she rolled her eyes at Ellie's weirdness.

Allie finished the side of bread in seconds. She hadn't realized how hungry she had been. The meal had a few big sunflower seeds on the top. Allie ate them one by one, relishing the small burst of flavor that was released as she bit into them. She savored the last one, letting the taste linger.

Allie suddenly remembered to look up at the others, trying to determine if she was eating too fast.

She abruptly noticed Damien eating lamb, and she cringed in disgust.

 _(A.N. No offence to those who are not vegetarian. It's just Piper is, and I'm determined not to stray too far from the plot of the books.)_

"What are you _eating_?" She hissed in anger. He shrugged.

"I'm chewing food, see?" He showed her the half-eaten food in his mouth. Allie felt nausea rise in her throat like bile. She raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

"How would you like it if I ate _shrimp_?" She shot back. "I think I feel like orca. Whale Fin soup." Damien opened his mouth in absolute horror but nothing came out.

 _Thought so_ , Allie grinned triumphantly. He looked a little less scared when she didn't order the killer-fish soup. Allie just smirked.

"I'll save that as my appetizer for tomorrow," she bluffed. He paled drastically, and Allie had to bite her lip to contain her laughter.

In hardly any time at all, Allie had eaten her pumpkin soup. The meal was barely enough to soothe her ravenous appetite. She tried to get the remains of the soup out with the spoon, taking care not to make a scraping sound.

I must've been starving! She thought to herself.

Allie looked around and saw that everyone was waiting for her to finish.

And I thought _I_ was hungry. She snorted. _Gods._

Michel cleared his throat and stood up impatiently. "Uh, Commander, is it possible to speak to you privately after the meal? We have new results on operation 73." Lady Chaos looked at him, her expression a whirlpool of emotions.

"Excuse me…" She replied with quiet authority. "But I believe my apprentices have every right to know what is going on here. We stick together in times like these." Freya didn't look happy about it. She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, looking determined to get her way.

"Listen to me Commander," She said bluntly. "Think about what you're doing. As a guardian in training, this is not something I would like to know. This is valuable information. They don't have the power to defend themselves yet, and as the first guardians of Meriopeua , they would be in grave danger." Allie grit her teeth in quiet fury and Damien let out a very informal indigent cry.

Allie set her mouth, and refused to make a sound, worried she would sound like a child.

"They just need more training," Michel said hopefully, as if to convince himself as much as Lady Chaos.

"Hey!" Damien protested. "I'm-" Allie shot him a look, conveying murder.

"Ahem. We're _not_ babies!" But Lady Chaos had gained that look. It was the look telling them she'd made up her mind.

"No," she said firmly. "I need to discuss this privately. They are right." She glanced at the pair. "You do understand after you give me the information, I must wipe your memory. You're not ready to fend him off when at full power. Only I can know. I will be the target." Damien opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Chaos cut in.

Freya and Michel were nodding slowly, though uncertainly. "That is my choice and it is final." Lady Chaos's voice echoed through Allie's skull. She looked at her with intelligent black eyes. Allie dipped her head though her veins were burning with anger.

"Fine," Allie told her. "But we will understand eventually, right?" Lady Chaos nodded wearily, looking suddenly fragile.

"You might even have to fight it," she said quietly, almost to herself. Michel sucked in a breath and she noticed his face suddenly pale.

"No," he said. "I'll do it. They can't. They're too valuable, too unprepared. I'd rather it be me." Lady Chaos shook her head, though she looked on the verge of tears.

"T-thank you for the offer," she said shakily, "But you and I both know you're not powerful enough."

Freya joined him. "I'll do it too. Maybe if we all try..." Lady Chaos trembled again. Freya put a hand on her shoulder and seemed to brace herself. She leaned up on her tiptoes so that she was the same height and whispered in her ear something inaudible.

Lady Chaos's face drained of color and she looked as if she couldn't believe it. Then she screamed in pure agonized rage.

"No!" She snarled in fury. "Impossible! I was there only days ago… I expected another millennia. That's too soon. They're not ready!" She sobbed her cold exterior falling down completely. Freya sighed.

"We felt powerful fire explode from… there," she said glancing at nervously at Damien and Allie. "By the time we got there, not a trace of him. Boom. Gone." Freya made the mushroom cloud explosion with her fingers and Lady Chaos screeched with a chilling power behind it. She paced nervously, tears pouring relentlessly down her cheeks.

She stopped suddenly and pointed a trembling finger at them.

"To your rooms. Now."

The door slammed shut. Now what? Allie thought, confused. She changed into her pajamas and climbed into her bunk after fluffing up the pillow. Her movements were mechanical and jerky, and her stomach felt almost too heavy to support. She lay her head on the pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

Who's not ready? Who's escaped? Allie could barely think. Her fears and worries seemed to seep through her mental shields and make images appear in the darkness.

Her eyes watered slightly as she remembered the bone chilling feelings Lady Chaos had expressed in her scream. The hallway between their bedrooms opened, and she turned to see Damien's shadow peeking through a crack.

"Can't sleep?" he asked quietly.

Allie nodded, a small sob escaping her. She was too tired to stop crying. Allie had never seen Lady Chaos in so much distress. Allie wanted to help, but now she wouldn't let her.

Damien came over to sit on the bunk, and squeezed her hand reassuringly. His hands were big and clumsy, but they seemed to shelter her small one perfectly. Allie sat up, crying a little harder. She gave a loud hiccup and he chuckled. She just sniffed.

"Tissue please," she said hoarsely. He stood up and got one for her.

"Thanks," she said quietly, tossing it across the room. Somehow, she felt worse when it missed the trash can.

Why did Michel want to give his life for us? She thought, a rush of questions coming to the forefront of her mind. What do we have to fight? Would our friends lose the lives that we worked so hard to preserve? Would we lose ours? The concept was so foreign to her that she took a minute to think it out.

"What are you thinking?" Damien asked.

She shrugged, lying through her teeth. "It's probably nothing." He frowned as if he knew she wasn't telling the truth. A tear trickled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. His eyes softened and he gave her a small smile.

Shuffling over, Allie moved herself so that she sat with Damien at the edge of the bed, her feet dangling uselessly over the edge. Allie looked furiously at her swaying toes; tears running silently down her face. She glowered at them as if they were the reason for all her misery.

They were all alone.

Allie shivered, feeling the chill for the first time. She leaned against Damien's shoulder and he put his arm around her comfortingly. Allie tensed for a second and then relaxed into him.

She knew she was getting his shoulder wet with her soundless tears, but he didn't seem to mind. He kept rubbing her back gently and murmuring soothing words.

"It's going to be okay," he promised. "I'll protect you. We can protect each other." Allie almost sniffed out that she didn't need protecting, but she realized that he was trying to do something nice. So Allie just nodded dumbly, and closed her eyes. She floated into a dreamless, meaningless sleep.

\- Linebreak -

Allie's eyes shot open. She looked in the mirror and saw her hair heaped up in one large knot. She groaned loudly. Sunlight filtered through the windows, and a bird was singing really off key. Allie made a move to get up from the covers, then realized she didn't want to leave. It was so warm… Allie sighed and snuggled back into the covers, trying not to think of the scolding Lady Chaos would give her. She smiled contentedly.

What felt like a measly five seconds later, Allie heard a voice booming through the house.

"Up! Get up!" It was Lady Chaos's voice, magnified with something that looked like an upside-down safety cone.

Megabytes? She thought drowsily. Mega… Ah, megaphones. Lady Chaos spun around the door smiling brightly at her.

"Morning!" She sang brightly.

"Uh…" Allie muttered, scratching her head. "Morning."

Damien let out a laugh that rang loud and clear. Allie sat up and looked for it, feeling strangely as if it belonged to her. The door was carelessly tossed open. Damien flashed her a smile.

"Well Chaos is in a good mood," he said good-humoredly. Allie nodded in agreement. He seems to be in particularly high spirits too, she thought. What's up with him?

He pranced happily up to Allie and dragged her out of bed. " _C'mon_ , Allie," he urged. "Even if Lady Chaos is actually positive-"

"I heard that," Lady Chaos yelled from downstairs.

"I know," Damien screamed like a girly toddler, twirling his hair around his finger and giggling. Allie shook her head, but couldn't shake the smile the made it's way onto her face.

"You're crazy," she laughed.

He smiled genuinely. "I know. Why do you think I'm here?"

Allie shrugged, because to be honest, she liked this Damien. It reminded her of the times when… they _hadn't_ been battling for the sake of a planet.

"-she still won't expect us to be late." Late? Allie thought in confusion. Oh right. She cursed aloud. Damien rolled his eyes.

"Colorful language," He teased.

"Whatever," she laughed, pushing him out the door. Why is it I always seemed to be late these days? Her thoughts whirred. I should get my alarm checked.

Allie started to choose her outfit, but in the end she decided not to change, due to the fact that she had no idea what she'd be doing.

Allie ran to the kitchen in her pajamas, feeling sudden sense of unease.

"Hey Lady Chaos," She said uncertainly, still unable to stop feeling as if something was wrong.

"Hey Allie! Want some eggs?" she said amiably. Allie's blood turned to ice. It was too cheerful.

"Are- are you okay?" She asked immediately, trying to calm her pulse.

Maybe I'm just overreacting, she thought to herself.

Lady Chaos looked immensely happy for some reason.

"Today is the day!" She sang. "They didn't think you could do it. But I proved them wrong, didn't I?" Damien walked in, wearing his training clothes. He stopped when he saw her face. He followed Allie's gaze and saw a wild Lady Chaos.

Damien raised a hesitant hand to her forehead. He immediately yelped and drew back. He walked calmly over to Allie, but she could see he was trying hard not to panic.

"She's burning up," he hissed lowly in her ear. "We need to get her to the doctor." Allie quickly agreed.

A few minutes later, the car had started and Lady Chaos had been propped up in the back seat. They had decided not to teleport, because while they were able to do it themselves, they had never tried it with a passenger.

"Bomb!" She laughed deliriously. "Room. Shield. Aether." Allie tensed at the last name, but she tried hard not to show her fear.

What does this have to do with Aether? She wondered.

"Let's keep moving," She said grimly. Damien just nodded in reply. The nearest hospital was seventeen miles away. She pressed her foot harder on the accelerator, wondering if even an extra minute would help Lady Chaos.

"Die, kill, murder," Lady Chaos babbled, still chuckling. Allie exchanged a glance with Damien. _Those sure were some happy words_ , She thought darkly.

They arrived at the hospital soon enough. Immediately, the clerk took one look at their confused mentor and handed Damien a key to room 225. The door swung open with ease and Allie set her down gently on the bed.

"Damien, go get the doctor, would you?" She said. No one replied.

"Damien!" She hissed. "Go get the doctor." Allie turned around, expecting an answer and sighed in exasperation. "I _told_ you to-"

Allie's voice died away as she scanned the room for him.

"Damien?" Allie yelled his name, then slapped her own arm at her stupidity. Whoever took him knows I know now, she thought bitterly. When will I learn?

Allie was wrenched out of her thoughts by a dull, muffled thud.

"Damien!" Allie ran towards the sound. She emerged in the hallway, barely registering Damien's left shoe.

At least he knows to leave clues, she thought, relieved.

Allie spun around a random corner praying her instincts were correct. She found the other shoe on the cross paths near the front of the hospital. It led left. The only thing down the hallway was a rusty old door.

Allie leapt towards it, her feet landing dead center, and made herself heavier. The amount of force packed behind it was astounding, even to her. Thank adrenaline, she thought. But the door didn't even budge.

Screaming, Allie lit the door on fire, and with a satisfying _crunch_ , she left a fist-sized hole. The door shuddered and crumbled to ash. Allie cautiously stepped out into the open, ice shards already surrounding her pointed outwards in defense.

"Damien?" She whispered. Allie waded through the fog, conscious that her enemies probably had her surrounded.

He had to be here. The dust and smoke cleared slightly and Allie could see a lone figure. Allie ran to it, seeing the blood coming out of his cheek. Damien was tied to a stake, bound and gagged. Unconscious, she analyzed. Knocked out… Allie cut him loose with Katoptris, and he fell to the floor.

Limp as a rag doll.

Her heart jumped before her fingers nimbly found a pulse.

"Get up!" She snarled. Allie had just realized something important. If the enemy wanted to kidnap Damien they would've done it by now. There's no possible _way_ that after all that effort, they would leave him unguarded. That meant that he was never in danger.

Allie thought back to what Lady Chaos had said. _"Only I can know. I will be the target."_ Her heart pounded, and though she wanted to race back to her mentor, she knew she wouldn't leave Damien.

"Get. Up." She screeched at him. Allie smashed her boot against his side, putting as much weight as she dared without snapping his ribs. His eyes shot open from lack of oxygen, and she glared at him, offering her hand. He saw Katoptris in her outstretched palm and tensed, knowing there was trouble.

"Help, diversion, Chaos is in danger," She managed to get out. They bolted for 225, running as fast as hyperspeed could take them.

The good guys always win, she thought to herself. They _always_ win.

Allie coughed. The smoke had spread in a thick rolling layer across the hospital. She thought about the poor innocents that were suffering from large inhalation of pollution. She looked in the rooms as she passed them, seeing sick patients stare at her helplessly.

"Go on," she told Damien. "I'll help them." He nodded determinedly.

Allie took a breath and blew a sweet breeze into the room. The shape of a translucent dragon appeared. The wind intensified until all the smoke had been dissolved.

The woman was staring at her in wonderment as she held the only towel to her son's face. Needles and wires confined her to the bed, and her leg was up in a cast.

"Thank you!" She choked. "God bless you!"

"Don't open the door," Allie said simply, closing it and quickly doing the same for the rest.

 _222, 224, 226, 228, 230_. Allie couldn't do it. She was exhausted already. She called the golden dragon from the room and it appeared before her. She reached inside herself and found what remained of her energy.

"Take it," she told the dragon. "Help the rest."

The majestic creature bowed his head. "Yes, Master," he rumbled.

When he left, Allie almost collapsed.

"Chaos," she whispered hoarsely, struggling to get to her feet. "Dami-" she coughed.

Allie ran as fast as she could, but couldn't bring herself to use hyperspeed. She threw the door open, and it snapped on it's hinges, landing with a crash at her feet. The world swayed. She couldn't be sure what she was seeing.

His skin was pale white. It wasn't a pearly creamy white like Lady Chaos's. No, it was different. His flesh was pale. So pale that it looked translucent. Every vein popped through, looking like no skin existed at all.

But that wasn't even the horrifying part. Those were his eyes. He had no irises or pupils... When he looked at Allie, she felt like he was burning her very soul. His bare white eyeballs flicked and frothed uncontrollably.

"Damien," She cried, dropping to her knees. "What did you do to him?" She snarled, despite how she could barely stand.

He just laughed. He _laughed._

"No one can stop me. Not Chaos, not you."

He had a sadistic grin on his face, and his hand hovered over their mentor's face. She let out another bone chilling scream.

"No," Lady Chaos begged. "Mum! You're still here! The blood, so much blood," She let out a blood-curdling howl. "It's not real, It's not real..." Allie tackled the man, feeling sick.

 _No_ , she thought, feeling as if a cold hand was squeezing her heart. It _can't_ be.

Lady Chaos was trembling in fear, her eyes still firmly shut. Allie rushed over to her, pushing the man out of the way. She and lifted her eyelids. Allie screamed as she saw what was beneath. Commander's eyes were a swirling black vortex of power. But in the middle where the pupil should've been, there was a small bright white dot, steadily growing larger by the second.

The whiteness was absorbing all of the black, conquering it. She felt dizzy. _No no no no no._

"Let her go!" Damien was up. He threw punches at him, but it was like hitting a bag of water. The places where Damien hit just transformed into mist, his fists passing uselessly through the man's face. He laughed, showing white crooked teeth. He was dressed in blinding robes, the white blending with the back of the hospital room.

Allie screamed in fury, charging towards him. Lady Chaos was writhing now. She screamed and wailed as if she was living her worst nightmare. And she probably was.

"You're - you're - " Allie couldn't bring herself to say it. Rage and hatred filled her entire being and she threw herself at him again, refusing to acknowledge that he couldn't be hurt.

For the second time, the man in the white cloak decided to speak, his voice raspy and weak, but his eyes glowing with unspoken power.

"Hello, Atalanta, Damien. I've heard a lot about you, and it seems my puny friend," He gestured to Lady Chaos. "Seems to believe you can actually defeat me." He let out a careless laugh.

"You wouldn't mind if I killed you now, would you? It will spare you a lot of avoidable pain, and you could also evade my torture." His voice was persuasive and friendly, as if he was actually trying to help them. Allie sniffed in disgust. He smiled as if he knew something they didn't. Which he probably did. Allie dug Katoptris into his neck. It evaporated into mist, and she was suddenly holding her knife in midair.

"You…" She hissed through gritted teeth, fury clouding her vision. "Let her go."

He just shrugged, "Why should I? I was the one locked away for thousands of millennia. My mind is focused on only revenge." He let out another chilling laugh. "As soon as I eliminate potent enemies, I will be free to do as I please."

Damien's voice trembled beside her, "You're crazy."

The man smiled, "Yes, I am. But I am also powerful. I can kill your friends with a snap of my finger." Somehow Allie knew he wasn't lying.

"We don't have friends," She lied. Her voice was shaking.

"Mmm. That's what they all say. Classic. 'No, I don't have any friends, Mister.' Ha! No? I'm not blind. Those trainers of yours. They will die slowly." He smiled wickedly. Damien looked at him in horror.

"You're a monster," Allie breathed.

He smiled again and closed his eyes. Allie heard Lady Chaos start to scream, her eyelids were beginning to glow with a bright light. Order was winning. Allie backhanded him across the face, but of course it did nothing. She summoned a machinegun. A blowtorch. Nothing worked.

Damien grabbed riptide and cut an arc between Order's shoulder blades, but the mist evaded him. Suddenly, a shield sprung up between Order and them. Allie was thrust backwards and she and Damien fell to the floor.

"You can't hurt me." Order's smug voice echoed through the room. "You can't wound a primordial, dearest _Allie_." He said the name so condescendingly. "If you want to, try, go right ahead."

Allie knew what he was doing. He was trying to distract her so that he could concentrate on taking Chaos over. And that would _never_ happen.

Damien stabbed the place where Order's heart should have been and yelled in frustration. "Who are you anyways?" He asked shaking his head in utter disbelief. "Riptide can cut anything." Order raised an eyebrow and Lady Chaos's eyes dimmed slightly.

Allie breathed a sigh of relief, finally having some information she could use. They had to keep him talking, she realized. If he's not focused on Chaos, her subconscious can win.

Order radiated smugness and slight astonishment at Damien's stupidity.

He sneered, "You must be really dense, demigod, if still have no idea. Tell me, can your sword cut your precious _Lady Chaos_?"

Damien snapped in defense. "What does that have to do with _anything_?" Order chuckled.

"It has to do with everything, idiot. I am her equal." A look of realization dawned on his face and he looked at her in disbelief. Allie narrowed her eyes and tried not to look at him incredulously. Even though he hadn't heard the story, Order and Chaos were common names in Greek Mythology.

"W-what?" Damien managed to splutter.

"Get. A. Grip." Allie said, deathly stern. "That's the evil person who busted out of jail and wants to kill Chaos. _That's what_!"

" _WHAT_?!" He screamed. Allie grumbled. Order, who had been watching the exchange with a baffled stare had obviously lost concentration. Allie looked unflinchingly into his disgusting eyes, giving her weak plan her best shot.

"So Order," she said quietly. She was behind Damien. Perfect. She tapped back twice, and he pretended to gasp in horror and run to Chaos. He was behind Order. Good.

"How does it feel," she said softly, putting slight charmspeak into her tone, almost too tiny to be detected. She hoped to sway him, just a little. Confuse him.

"How does it feel... to have murdered your little brother... in cold blood?" She spoke with pure curiosity, trying to make her eyes seem angelic. Each word seemed to be a dagger to his heart and his eyes flickered with rage.

"Don't," he spat, "Don't go there."

She smiled, incorporating more charmspeak into her voice, "Are you sure? After all, it was all... you're... fault..."

His shield flickered.

Allie clenched her fist.

And before he could manipulate the mist again, Damien plunged Riptide into his chest. Order stared incredulously at the bloody sword.

"Not possible," he said quietly. He staggered, clutching the curtains for support, and yanked the blade out of his body.

Blood poured out of the wound.

"Not possible," He said again, his face twisting in rage.

Lady Chaos's struggling form relaxed and the light in her eyelids diminished. Order's bloody broken chest was heaving, and his swollen lip spat a little bloody saliva at her. He looked at them with eyes full of malice.

"Don't think this is over, Apprentice. _Far_ from it." He melted into the hospital room floor.

Damien made his way over and hugged her comfortingly.

"He doesn't mean it," he said reassuringly, but he sounded uncertain himself. "We can get through this." And that's when she passed out.

Allie woke up in a hospital bed. Again.

"Hello?" She called. Lady Chaos? Percy? _Anyone?_ " Damien popped in, or rather, teleported in. Allie groaned.

"You caught up, huh?" He nodded, looking really worried. "You were out for a month. I did have time." Allie sighed.

"How's Lady Chaos?" His expression turned grim.

"Actually, don't know. They're not letting me see her." He looked concerned for a second. "You guys almost died, you and her both." His voice broke a little at the end. She sat up and grabbed his hand, trying to reassure him, but her arm made a snapping sound. She fell back on the bed, seeing red.

Allie shrieked in pain, cursing loudly. Damien tugged her dislocated shoulder back into place.

Ow, she thought numbly.

It was just a dull throb now, so she managed to heave herself up. Damien lightly supported her back and helped her into an upright position.

"The doctors couldn't help you, your energy reserves were so close to zero that you had to survive by yourself. They said the best chance you had was if they did nothing at all."

"Okay," said Allie, trying hard to care. "Is there anything, _anything_ about Lady Chaos?"

"Rumors go around." His set his jaw. "I heard that she was having nightmares, muttering about Order, and another name: Aether. I looked it up, apparently Lady Chaos had two brothers. The littlest one died, but it's a mystery how, and-"

She cut him off. "It's okay. I know."

He looked confused. "You know?"

"Yeah," she said. They drifted into a comfortable silence.

"Do you know when they'll release her?" Allie asked. "Or when the doctors will let us visit?" She bit her lip.

"Normally, I would barge in and demand to see her, but it she's… I don't want to interrupt an operation or a procedure or..."

"Well, they said once you woke up we could visit her." Damien told her reluctantly. Allie jolted up.

"Then _why_ are we sitting here _waiting_?" She demanded.

He shrugged sheepishly. "I wanted to see if you were okay first." Allie rolled her eyes.

"I'm _fine._ " She leapt off the bed and her legs crumpled beneath her.

"Okay, so I'm not fine. Who cares? Let's just go." Damien just sighed, knowing he had a 0% chance of winning and that she was already grumpy. He put one arm under her shoulders and Allie managed to walk shakily, with only a small unbalance.

Since they were already at the hospital, they only needed to walk down the corridor and to the front reception.

"Ahem," Allie said loudly clearing her throat. "I'm awake. Where's Lady Chaos?" The worker looked nervous as her eyes flicked side to side.

"Er, I don't know Miss." Allie looked at her straight in the eye. Are people this dumb these days? she wondered.

Allie uncovered a mental birth certificate and read the name. "I can sense lies, Margret La Stral." She gulped. "You have no idea the day I've had. I'm going to ask you one more time. _Where is Lady Chaos_?"

"Sorry Miss," she said quietly. "Room 193. See for yourself." Her trembling fingers handed Allie a key, and she limped as fast as she could all the way there.

Allie pushed open the door with Damien hot on her tail. She felt tears run down her face at the sight of Lady Chaos. She was so pale… Allie shuddered and cast away the thought of Order's cruelty.

 _No_ , she told herself sternly. I will _not_ think of the way he laughed while he slowly killed Chaos. I'll not think about how his bloodied chest heaved and his evil sm-

Allie cut herself off. _Shut up, me._

There was a faint pulse, but it was so weak it was almost undetectable.

Their Commander was deathly white, and the smell of decay rose in the air even though she knew that it would be swept away soon enough.

She had beads of sweat on her forehead and small tears leaking out of her eyes. She gasped out in pain, and one of her hands instinctively moved up to her head, wincing and clutching it in agony. Lady Chaos was trapped in a nightmare. She took a heaving breath, and her ribcage shuddered. Allie gasped as she saw how her bones stuck out prominently against the thin layer of skin.

Needles were embedded in her skin, feeding her nutrition that she couldn't feed herself. Allie took her hand in her own. _It's going to be ok,_ Allie thought as hard as she could, trying not to let on how lost she was. _We're going to be fine._

Allie sniffed and cradled her face before planting a simple kiss on her forehead.

"Goodnight," She whispered softly as she closed the door quietly, as if not to wake her. Damien trailed after her, but his expression of hollowed grief never wavered.

"Sleep tight," he added quietly. Allie give him a small sigh. "And don't let the bedbugs bite…" As she finished the nursery rhyme, she couldn't help but believe it would help.

 _Gods help us,_ she prayed. _Let Chaos get through this._

Tears flowed freely down her face, and Allie imagined them as rivers. Millions of webbed rivers surrounding her skin, going deeper. The rivers of red and blue. The rivers to her heart.

The next few days were a blur. In fact, so were the next decades.

Zoë decided that Chaos or not, their apprenticeships had to be continued. The guardians were called for, and suddenly Allie and Damien had six Masters. They taught her different technique of different styles. Allie was trained in all her elements until she was superior in wielding her powers utterly on plain offence, but could take on stronger opponents and have flawless defense as well.

Yet again, there was a person Allie couldn't beat. But this time, it was Damien. They trained together often, and were close as siblings. But they had gone through so much, and Allie was starting to wonder if Lady Chaos would ever wake up. She'd been in a coma for over seventeen years. Which made them, as guardians in training, the official leaders of Meriopeua. The news to her was horrifying.

This included politics, which Allie discovered, much to her displeasure. Since Damien was… less advanced in subtlety, Allie took control of that situation. It had become a daily occurrence for her to walk outside and someone would bow to her. Allie waved them off- she wasn't the queen, and she never would be. Lady Chaos _would_ return.

Whenever Allie heard Chaos's name, tears welled up in her eyes and she fought harder than she thought was possible, pushing herself to the absolute limit as she imagined killing Order brutally for what he did. Sometimes she wished she were dead. But deep inside, Allie knew she had to keep fighting, for Damien, for Chaos and for the people. She had to keep living for them.

And so it went. Days after days, years after years. Decades. They waited and waited. Until one day, the news finally came. The very news Damien and Allie yearned for so long. A messenger burst into the room, looking very flustered, but his eyes shone with hope.

"Lady Atalanta," he started breathlessly, but Allie waved away the formalities.

"Just Atalanta, thank you," she said.

"Atalanta," He said quickly, positively beaming with happiness. Allie was puzzled why the news seemed so important to him, until he let the words free from the tip of his tongue.

"Lady Chaos has finally awoken."

Allie paled, and a smile as bright as the sun broke out on her face. She looked at him in barely-concealed joy.

"Call Damien," She breathed. "We have some talking to do."

\- Linebreak -

 **I'm sorry for cutting it off, but I wanted to get this chapter posted as fast as possible. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and good luck to future inspirational authors.**

 **Can you guys please note that I work really hard on this, and it means the world to me when one of you guys post a review. I'll answer all your questions and thank the reviewers in person. This means so much to me… Thank you guys. The next chapter is about preparing to go to earth, see how you all enjoy that.**

 **I know some of you will love me for this, and others will hate me, but here's a tip on how this is not an ordinary Chaos story.**

\- **Everyone on earth still believes Percy and Piper are traitors**

\- **Instead of Petemis or Perzoë, there's… Uh… What's the ship name for Percy/Piper…?**

\- **This isn't some sob story about their lives, and it's going to be real dramatic and realistic. (Evil face :)**

 **Please review! It'll only take a few seconds and you have no idea the inspiration I get. The more reviews, the faster I post! I love you guys, and thanks once again! ;)**

 **Signing off for now - Kathie**

 **0.0**


	6. Chapter 6

**(Skip the bold if you really don't care about listening to my life)**

 **;D**

 **Hey you! Thanks for the reviews on the chapter. I really love them- remember, you guys are the reason I'm doing this! I'm on a three-hour flight, so you guys are lucky: you have three hours of my work you can read! Thank ya'll! 3 U. (When updating, I'm on a 7 day holiday! More reading material!) I'm going to be mentioning the people who review with Qs in the next chapter's AN. So please review! Two chapters and I've only gotten one review (and even though I'm really happy about it) you would totally make my day reviewing. Thank uuuu 3**

 **\- Piper McLean -**

A flash signaled his arrival.

"Damien!" Allie cried. "She's back! She's really back!"

His eyes were orbs of hope.

"What if… C'mon, I have to see this for myself," he said.

"Flash!" Allie called. The phoenix appeared with a trill, small wisps of fire showing where he had arrived.

"Flash." She scolded. "What do you have to say for yourself?" Flash looked at the burnt furniture. He looked properly apologetic, and gave a hasty caw.

"Alright Flash," she held out her arm, "Let's go see Commander."

"Fire?" Allie confirmed with Damien.

"Fire," he nodded.

Flames engulfed them, a beautiful combination of gold and red. She felt herself falling, falling and then...

Allie coughed and swatted away the smoke.

They were tossed awkwardly in a pile and Allie heard a small surprised squeak coming from the other side of the room.

"Lady Chaos?" She asked hopefully. "Are you awake?" Damien quickly jumped off what they had landed on, which had turned out to be a sterilized table. He dragged her off too and she landed on the ground.

 _Thanks_ , she thought dryly, sending the thought to him.

Chaos was spread out gently on her bed. For the second time since Allie had seen her, her hair was out of it's bun and messily splayed across the white pillow. She couldn't help notice that there were drops of blood contrasting on the cotton.

Lady Chaos gave her a strained smile and she ran over to her bed and hugged her, sniffing into her neck.

"We were so worried," Allie whispered hoarsely. "We almost thought you were dead." Lady Chaos grinned softly.

"I'd never leave you," she promised. "Not willingly, at least. They'll have to drag me away, kicking and screaming." Allie hesitated. That didn't really reassure her.

They both hung on to her like she was their lifeline.

Damien started to cry into her shoulder, letting out long hurtful sobs.

Not to insult his manliness or anything, but it's true, she thought, letting the air pathways drift to him.

Allie smirked as she watched his expression change. She was so sick of feeling sad, she just wanted something to make her smile.

Damien stood up, bolting, as he read her thoughts.

"Wait a second," He said, tears still falling down his cheeks. "I _am_ manly!" Allie rolled her eyes.

"Are not." He crossed his arms and kept arguing. Lady Chaos was watching with a fond smile.

"Are to!"

"Not."

"To!"

"Girls!" Lady Chaos interrupted with a smile, spreading her hands out in a rainbow gesture. Damien pouted.

"I'm not a girl," he said cutely. "The name is just bad, I tell you. I feel nauseous just thinking about it."

Alile stuck out her tongue.

"I'm _not_ a girl," he said. "I'm the most manliest manly man in the world." Allie stifled a laugh.

"Uh huh. Sure Daisy. That can be your name from now on."

This time Damien really did throw up. On her.

Well, that backfired, she thought, having a cliché, _of course this happens_ moment.

" _Augh_!" Allie screamed. Damien's breakfast made itself known, splattering all over her training uniform. Allie was drenched head-to-toe in puke. _Puke._

She slapped Damien's face, leaving a faint red handprint. _Oh my god, my shoes just_ squelched, she thought in horror. Allie groaned in disgust.

"Ow." Damien said, rubbing it, as well as holding his stomach. He looked like one of those people who failed to do the multitasking thing, the head patting and stomach rubbing motion.

He pouted again, and she sighed.

"Sorry." His face brightened.

"Really?" He looked at her brightly.

" _No,_ " she said, rolling her eyes. "You just _threw up on me._ "

Allie teleported herself back to the bathroom and stripped of herself of clothing, holding them a good arm length away. She wrinkled her nose at the remains of Damien's meal.

"Now I have to burn this," She said irritably. "And that was my favorite jumper too!"

She silently cursed Damien, and incinerated them quickly, whisking the burnt smell out the window. She walked into the shower and turned on the tap, only to squeal and run out as the cold water sprayed her face.

Allie muttered a few uncomplimentary words about showerheads. The world was against her today.

Allie turned the shower on again; making sure it was warm before jumping in. She smiled as she massaged the shampoo into her hair, warming it up.

Allie thought about her mixed feelings, and though she was comforted by the water, a chill swept over her. A dark feeling seemed to make her heart drop into her stomach.

 _It's okay_ , Allie kept reminding herself _._ The betrayals are _over_. But there was a small persistent voice telling her that she wouldn't be reassuring herself if something big weren't going to happen.

 _Shut up_ , Allie told it.

There was a barely audible knock on her door.

"Showering!" Allie yelled. "Get out please!"

The person knocked again, this time louder. A voice echoed through the room through the door.

"Hey, Als?" Oh crap. Damien.

" _What_?" Allie asked, wonder what in hell was so important he had to interrupt her during her daydreaming.

"Please! Chaos has news." Allie rolled her eyes. _Well, duh_. Damien seemed to read her thoughts.

"New news." He corrected. "Please?" Sighing, Allie nodded her consent, before realizing he couldn't see her.

"Fine," Allie said grumpily. "Be out there in ten, and you better scram. Meet you in 225,"

"Kay." Allie quickly rinsed her choppy hair and grabbed her hairbrush, running it through several times. When it was done, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, drying herself. Allie opened the door and shuffled inside her closet, then grabbed a random outfit off the rack.

She took the hanger out and then quickly teleported into it. A second later, she was still there, but the clothes were a pile of smoking ash.

"Wind teleport," she chastised herself out loud. "Looks like Flash isn't the only one who makes mistakes."

She did it again with a different outfit, annoyed that she had lost two pairs of perfectly good clothes in a single day.

After that, she teleported to room 225, taking care to use the wind form of the power, just to enforce it in her mind.

"Hi," Damien greeted her intelligently. He was still grinning, and she felt the tiniest smidge of guilt. But not really.

"Yo," Allie replied, smiling though she didn't know why.

"Yi," said Lady Chaos. They both looked at her, confused. She shrugged. "Yo + Hi = Yi."

"That logic though," Allie chuckled.

Allie and Damien both looked nonchalantly at each other.

"Yi," they said together. "Yi."

Smiling, they turned around to Lady Chaos who was propped up in a small leather chair.

"Yi," they said all said in unison, laughing.

"Lady Chaos?" Allie asked, after a sort of silent period. "What was the news?"

Lady Chaos looked surprised at her abruptness, but smiled brightly.

"Two will become four," she said smiling triumphantly. "You may choose a traveling companion." Allie felt confused.

"Like an animal?" She asked quizzically.

"No," Chaos told her. "A person. It can be anyone."

"Zoë," Damien cried out immediately. Allie's face blanched.

"You're talking Nightshade, right?" He nodded, before understanding her words completely and realization dawned on his face.

They both turned to Lady Chaos questioningly.

 _Whaa?_ She mentally asked her.

 _Don't tell him anything yet,_ Lady Chaos responded.

Damien was still staring intently at Chaos. He nodded reluctantly.

"So I can't choose her?" The creator shook her head.

He thought for a little while, tapping his hand on his knee.

"I miss Beckendorf," he sighed. "But it would be mean to take him away from Silena after all they'd been through." He shot a pointed glance at Allie and she caught on.

"Oh, yeah." Allie remembered the story of the hero and decided she wanted to meet her half-sister.

"I choose Silena as my companion." She told her, and Chaos looked at her with a surprised glance. "Are you _sure_?"

"Uh…" Allie said slowly, nodding, but feeling suddenly uncertain. "…Yes?" She paused again.

"I was wondering if you'd like your trainer instead…" _Oh_ , Allie thought. _So that's why she said no to Damien_. Allie shook her head, thinking it through.

She just couldn't choose. Zoë, or her half sister? Her best friend or her blood?

Allie rested her head in her hands, massaging her temples.

"You okay?" Damien asked concernedly.

"Yeah," She told him. "Headache."

"I can't choose," Allie said after a few minutes. She was miserable. Lady Chaos nodded.

"Thought so." She closed her eyes for a few seconds, as if having a mental debate in her head. She then blinked them open in shock.

"Okay. You don't have to." Allie cocked her head, perplexed. "You can have them both." Her weariness was suddenly washed away with relief. _Thank Chaos,_ she thought.

"I heard that," Lady Chaos smirked.

Damien looked at Chaos eagerly. "That means I can have Beck _and_ Luke, right?" Lady Chaos looked doubtful for a second. _Who's Luke?_

"Please!" He more or less begged. "She gets _her_ trainer!" _You sound like a two year old_ , Allie broadcasted.

Chaos relented, her eyes softening.

"Fine," she sighed. "You also will have three new people of _my_ choosing." They looked at her curiously.

"Have I ever told you what happened after you left?" She asked.

Allie shook her head, confirming it. "Never told us."

"Well, I suppose it's time that I do then." She said looking depressed. "When the war was over, the camp discovered the treachery by your friends, Travis, Connor and Katie." Allie took the pause as a sign to think about it.

 _Treachery?_ She thought furiously _. They're the traitors, dammit!_

"They were killed." The words were harsh and blunt. She didn't even give Allie time to absorb the sentence before continuing.

"The one called Travis begged his girlfriend to join the hunters but the Katie girl refused to leave her boyfriend behind to be slaughtered." Chaos nodded in respect.

"The Hazel girl, she had been previously killed." Allie bowed her head in shame. She had been refusing to think about it for so long, she had almost convinced herself to believe Hazel was alive.

"The daughter of Zeus, the only one I actually like," she added under her breath "Was under Artemis's protection."

She paused.

"Artemis is on our side. She is my granddaughter, as Leto is in fact my adopted daughter, because she disowned her father in the eleventh century. She faded recently." Lady Chaos's voice had a note of sadness as she spoke the last word, but it wasn't mournful. It was more accepting; as if she had seen much death and learned crying did nothing.

Allie still didn't want to think about it.

 _Get to the point, get to the point._

"But even Artemis does not know you two are alive." Allie nodded, still feeling numb. "The only thing she was aware of was that you two were special. As you know, she tried to save you for me. She was imprisoned too. She's the only Olympian I trust."

Damien utterly ruined the moment.

"You know she's threatened to turn me into a jackalope about five times now," he pointed out.

Lady Chaos chucked. "Well I had to keep you in line somehow."

His jaw dropped. "That was _you?_ "

She just smirked, ignoring him and refusing to acknowledge what he said.

"I blessed Artemis in hope that she would protect the two, but told her not to treat the Athena girl with any respect." Sadness crossed like a shadow across Damien's face but he didn't protest.

 _Yes_ , Allie thought angrily. _Treat her like the dirt she is._

"Back to the topic," Allie said fiercely.

"Okay, here's the thing," Lady Chaos said a bit nervously. "I can revive Connor, Travis, and Katie." Allie paused.

"Wouldn't that be selfish of us though? Bringing them back just as they'd found peace?" Allie asked.

Lady Chaos's face darkened.

"That's the problem," she said darkly. "They were sent to Fields of Punishment."

Allie's mouth was open and she was gaping like a fish. _The gods, those egotistical idiots! The fucking bastards_! The furious thoughts resided in her head and she decided not to open her mouth - just in case.

" _What_?!" Damien was up on his feet yelling before she could react, clearly having the same reaction. " _Those damn little - why do you even keep them around?!_ "

" _Language_ ," Lady Chaos barked in a completely calm tone.

 _Oh._ Allie thought mutely. _So that's where Aphrodite gets charmspeak._

"But-" He protested, looking like he would like to murder Hades.

" _Sit._ " She growled. Damien complied, plopping down on his seat with fury written clearly on his face.

"It is _not_ Hades's fault. It was parental instinct. It was a bargain," Lady Chaos massaged her head. "For Hazel to be in Elysium."

"I don't care," he spat. "Bring them back." Lady Chaos looked troubled at his tone.

Allie had other ideas. "Hazel!" She cried. "Bring Hazel back!"

Lady Chaos looked glum. "You think I haven't tried? She was your closest friend. But when I looked in Elysium, she was... gone."

Allie's heart stopped.

"Gone?" She shrieked. "What do you mean _gone_!"

Lady Chaos held her hands up. "Stop that this instant. If you're going to lead, it's going to be with maturity and grace. You think I can have the guardians of this planet screaming and out of control?"

Allie let her words sink in. "Fine," she bit out.

"I don't know where Hazel is," she admitted. "If a god had removed her, I would have reversed it, but it's not..." she looked troubled.

"I don't want to tell you my suspicions Allie, it would make it impossible for you."

Her eyes narrowed. "You _don't know_ where Hazel is? She's a spirit for gods sake! How could she just," she waved her hands in the air, "disappear?"

"I don't know," she said gently. "But you have friends, other friends that have been suffering for years. Don't you want to get them out as soon as possible?"

Allie felt guilt crawl into her bloodstream.

"You're right," she said quietly. "Bring them now please."

"Alright," she said sympathetically. "Just wait." Blood started to come out of her mouth, gushing as she closed her eyes and collapsed in her chair. Her eyebrows were creased in concentration, and her mouth pursed in a straight line.

"Come on…" she hissed. "Get through."

She growled. "You idiots! Stop resisting!" A figure started to form, slowly becoming solid one piece at a time. The person was looking around frantically: missing something. A second figure appeared, but was crackling like a broken radio. It flickered and changed, but the first seemed to recognize it anyway.

The figure ran up and grasped the second one gently, hugging it close to it's chest. A third figure appeared in a blinding flash of bright light. In a millisecond, they were 3D and staring at them.

Lady Chaos abruptly passed out in exhaustion.

"Commander!" Allie cried, running up to her. She measured the pulse of her mentor and calculated that she would be up in a few minutes.

Slowly, Allie turned around to stare at the newcomers.

Their expressions mirrored her amazement, as if trying to comprehend that we are there in the flesh and blood.

"Piper! Percy!" Katie screamed, her head whipping from side to side. "They told us you'd… you'd _died!_ " Connor and Travis were looking at Damien in disbelief.

"Perce?" There was a small pause of disbelief. They took in the appearances of one another, smiling as they tried to memorize every detail.

They all laughed together, tears starting to pool down their cheeks.

 _They look the same_ , Alie thought in wonder.

Katie's hair was just as mussed as it used to be, like a small bird had decided to make a nest.

Travis's old smirk was back. He looked broken, but now he seemed at least a little more repaired. Connor was practically leaping up and down with joy. He let out a girlish squeal and Allie rolled her eyes in amusement.

 _Damien, number two,_ She thought. _So this is what he's like in non-death situations._

Sobbing, Katie ran and tackled her in a bone-crushing hug.

"You- you're a-alive," she sobbed. "And P-Percy..." She released her and ran up to her friend, crying into his shirt.

"Yeah." He was quiet. "It's… we missed you guys. It's been surprisingly peaceful without you troublemakers."

Katie laughed, hastily wiping her tears away. She went to hug Connor and Travis, kissing them both on the cheek.

Allie finally joined in, feeling her joints unfreeze and move again.

"It'll be like having two little brothers," she said affectionately, ruffling Connor and Travis's hair. "We're so glad you're here."

They enloped her in a hug, raising her above their heads.

"Whoa!" She laughed, "And despite the fact I could judo kick you into next week, I give you permission," she raised her nose haughtily, "to carry me over to Damien."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "Damien? Is that your _boyfriend_?" He and Travis sang the last word together. Sensing they were about to go into a "Piper and Damien sitting a tree" song, she quickly cut them off.

"No! No, I meant _Percy_ ," she said, remembering they didn't know their names yet.

"Oooo..." Travis said. "Plot twist. I guess as your big brothers,"

"We'll have to protect you from boyfriends," Connor added.

"And forbid you from dating until you're fifty," Travis finished.

Allie facepalmed. "Helloo," she grumbled. "I'm the _older_ sister."

They shrugged.

"No shame, little sis," they said together.

Katie and Damien were watching them in amusement.

"Well they bonded fast," Katie commented, smirking. "I'll go stop her before she kills them."

Damien nodded wisely. "I think that would be best."

Allie smiled brightly, making her way over to Damien. Together, they watched their friends' banter, feeling as if they had missed out on a lot, even though it hadn't seemed important then.

"Remember a few weeks ago?" Damien asked suddenly. "It was almost the same situation." Allie gave a small grin.

"You told me you missed me, remember?" She nudged him, teasing, and he shouldered her back.

"That was one time," he complained, laughing. "Are you really gonna hold that against me?" Allie braced herself while he brought out the most dangerous weapon ever used.

The puppy-dog-eyes.

He blinked innocently and she started to melt staring in his sea green gaze.

"Stop that!" She ordered.

He grinned at her, "Or what?"

Allie smiled deviously, a plan already forming in her head.

"What about… _this_!" She lunged at him, furiously tickling his sides. He squealed like a piglet and writhed, squirming under her grip.

"No!" He squeaked. "Stop, I'll do anything!" Katie, Travis and Connor burst out laughing.

"Perce, man, you okay?" Travis teased, smirking as he saw the light shade of purple Damien's face was turning. The smile melted off when he saw Katie's expression. He paled and jumped to the side.

 _Nope_ , Allie calculated. _Not fast enough._

His girlfriend tackled him and started tickling him too. Connor decided just to stay out of it, before Travis dragged him down yelling "HELP ME". Allie roared with laughter, but Damien flipped her over and pinned her to the floor. Allie sighed in defeat.

"Fine, you win," she admitted. He just smirked at her.

Allie screamed with laughter as Damien ran his fingers down her ribs. Allie felt a fuzzy happy feeling overcome her and swore she'd have fun like this forever. Katie came to her rescue, ripping Damien off her and making him laugh.

In the end, Allie used the winds to lift Connor and Travis afloat, allowing Katie to tickle them to her heart's content.

"Don't let me get on your bad side, Katie." Damien muttered. "I need a reminder for that."

Eventually, they all went back to the house, after deciding that Katie would stay with Allie and the boys would all stay together. Allie smiled so big; still dizzy from the high of the game. She hadn't had fun like that in… forever. She shook her head wistfully, unable to stop the bright smile from covering her face.

"Aw!" Damien complained. "I have to share my space with _two_ people?"

Allie nodded, while Katie stifled a laugh.

"But they're sons of _Hermes_!" he argued petulantly. Slight anger flashed in their eyes, but it was mild.

"I'll be bankrupt in an hour," He told her, holding his face in his hands. They all cracked up, rolling on the floor. Travis and Connor just shrugged innocently, loping an arm around him.

"Lead us to your treasures," Connor hissed.

"I'm fried chicken toast," Damien deadpanned. Allie giggled with Katie, trying to cover her mouth with her hand.

Travis flipped his hair to one side and smiled dramatically. "Or shall I spend the rest of my time chasing after the beauty that is Gardener?" Katie rolled her eyes but failed to hide her blush.

"Goodnight, Katie," Travis said grinning triumphantly, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

Days later, Allie yawned. She took the hanger out of her clothes, and teleported into them. She took care to use the wind transport. Yesterday she had been unimpressed, and most certainly soaked. Damien had laughed so hard his breakfast had come out his nose.

Allie winced just at the memory. At least now she had a reason to remember not to use the water teleport system.

Katie yawned from beside her.

"Are you okay?" Allie asked tentatively.

After the day had passed, Katie had gotten steadily more quiet. Lady Chaos had informed her that it was the memories from the Fields of Punishment.

When Lady Chaos had offered to obliterate them, Katie had shaken her head firmly.

"I want them," she said much to their shock. "You still have your memories. I'm going to hate them forever for what they did to us."

Lady Chaos shook her head. "It's not so simple," she had chided. "Earth isn't black or white, and neither are we."

Allie looked at her mentor sympathetically, knowing she was thinking about Aether.

She had wrapped an arm around Katie and brought her to see her boyfriend. She had a feeling that they would feel better after going to get ice cream.

It was obviously still sinking in. The dark bags under her eyes had gotten more pronounced, and there was a certain slump in her back. The boys seemed better, but Damien was more worried than she'd ever seen him.

"Yeah." Allie was dragged from her thoughts by the simple answer.

"Breakfast?" Allie asked her.

Her eyes seemed to brighten. "Will Travis be there?"

Allie chuckled, glad to see her corny jokes had had some effect.

"C'mon lover girl, let's get you two together," she replied, pushing her friend in the direction of the door.

After breakfast, Allie stretched and went to the hospital. Lady Chaos had moved back and forth in the duration of the past three days. The only thing left of Allie's injury was a long white scar that stretched from her collarbone to her ribs. She was guiltily relieved when the medics had handed her the ointment.

When Chaos had woken, she had called them immediately. After learning of a fight that had gotten out of control, she forcefully ordered the best medicine in the city. It cost a fortune, but Chaos refused anything less that the best for her.

Allie felt a little like a spoiled brat, but she didn't want to hurt her Commander's feelings. She'd been asking Allie every day if she'd been using it.

Allie had, but not as much as she was supposed to. In secret she'd been visiting the poorer patients in hospitals to apologize for the smoke and to help with their injuries by using amounts of the ointment when they couldn't afford to heal themselves.

Allie had even met a small little girl called Emma. She was a cute girl, her ruffled hair and her fluffy bobble pigtails. Allie liked her immediately. Emma told her she'd been caught stealing and was hit by a shop owner.

Allie asked her who it was, and she refused to tell her, so Allie charmspoke it out of her. Emma looked downright murderous, but understood she'd give the person a fair trial. Allie snorted. Like hell.

They were gonna have words, that was certain. And Allie would return the slap at the very least.

Allie learned her parents were young. They tried their best to take care of her and were working very hard to support the family. She was so touched that Emma had stolen only to help feed them, and that her parents didn't know about it until now.

Allie gave her a dose of the medicine and in an hour she was fine, running around and everything.

She secretly gave Emma a little bit of money for her family and she took it in amazement, giving her a large hug.

"Miss, what's your name?" Emma asked her.

"Piper," Allie said out of habit. Her eyes widened as her brain registered what she had said.

"I mean, I'm-"

"It's okay Miss," Emma interrupted her. "Thanks, Miss Piper!" Allie laughed as she gave her one last hug and raced out the door, probably to give her parents the money. Allie gave a small chuckle.

Allie climbed out of the hole in the wall and leapt onto the sidewalk. She covered about thirty meters down and left a good-sized hole in the ground. _Oh well._ She just used a little earth and covered it up.

 _Perfect,_ she thought.

Allie had eventually decided eight patients were enough for that day, and made her mind up. She'd come back tomorrow for the last seven. Allie walked calmly back to the house, humming to herself.

Katie was waiting by their room. She was dressed in a pretty floral dress that hugged her curves but was loose around her knees, floating like a flower. Allie grinned at the embroidery- it was perfect for her.

She blew an imaginary kiss and twirled slightly.

"Do you think Travis will like it?" She asked shyly.

Allie sent her a reassuring laugh. "Katie, in his eyes you're far more beautiful that any dress."

She blushed and stared at her feet.

"Wait," Katie asked suddenly, her head rising. "Wanna go see Lady Chaos?" Allie shrugged.

"Well, I've already been there, but another visit couldn't hurt," Allie replied. They walked down a few blocks.

Zoë was busy today. Allie wished they could've spent more time with her and introduced Katie, but Lady Chaos seemed intent on sending her on secret missions. Allie felt as if she never got to see her friend any more.

 _I mean,_ Allie thought, _it's not like she's in the CIA, so let her have some time to herself!_

Chaos spoke in her mind. _Well, actually she is, but that's not the point._

Allie spluttered _. I, uh, mph._ She gave up trying to communicate and settled with: _Okay. Yi Chaos._

She laughed _. Yi to you too._

 _You know, it's kind of disturbing you can read my mind…_ She pointed out.

Allie could practically _feel_ Lady Chaos's grin.

 _Hey! I get privileges,_ she replied.

"C'mon, Lard ball," Katie laughed again, breaking her connection with Chaos. "Are you gonna stand there, or are we gonna walk?" She waved her hand in front of her face and Allie grinned.

"Nah," She replied. "I'm just going to sit here, and magically gain a million pounds." Katie rolled her eyes.

"Let's just go," she said.

They walked in a comfortable silence to Lady Chaos's palace (it was a bit like a mansion with a pointy top) and strode in without knocking. Almost immediately, a machine gun was right in their faces, firing hard celestial bronze bullets.

"Duck!" Katie squeaked, dragging her down while Allie struggled to make a shield of water.

 _Good practice I suppose_ , Allie thought, but she was starting to panic.

The bullets bounced harmlessly off of it, but she still got a small graze on one arm. Allie heard Chaos's voice, broadcasted in the room.

"Drop your weapons."

Allie sighed, slowly lowering Katoptris to the ground, while Katie did the same with her sword _. What was the point in taking it out again?_

The voice repeated again. "Drop your weap - wait, Allie? Katie?" The sound stopped and they heard some shuffling. Allie muttered in relief as the gun stopped firing. Her arm dropped and she sagged slightly. She rested her hands on her knees, breathing hard and getting her energy back.

"Commander, am I going to be attacked by your stupid machine gun every time I set foot into your house?" Allie deadpanned. Lady Chaos walked down the stairs blushing.

"Sorry," she said looking sheepish. "I guess I'm just paranoid." Katie rolled her eyes, while Allie scoffed the word "kinda", gesturing to the large gun lying at their feet. The thing was taller than she was.

"You don't say," Katie murmured, looking at it. "Well, that was a nice near-death experience, don't you think?"

Allie nodded, staring at it. "Yeah," She said. "Fun."

Lady Chaos seemed determined not to feel embarrassment. She sat up straighter and kept steady eye contact.

"Uh…" She said eloquently. "Nice day for a picnic, isn't it?" Allie nodded in agreement, staring out at the clear blue sky.

Unlike Earth, it was a completely oil-free zone. How they had electricity, Allie had no idea. Then again, if someone had told her that demigods existed, and she was a daughter of _Aphrodite_ of all people…

 _I would've slapped them in the face and recommended a therapist,_ Allie admitted to herself.

 _Yup._

Things had changed. It wasn't all bad though.

"You know what?" Allie asked brightly. "You're right."

"Yes! I'm right!" Lady Chaos paused. "About what exactly?"

Allie grasped her hand and tugged Katie closer so they were in a straight line of three. She marched them out of the house and stopped by the food truck near the park.

"C'mon guys," She said cheerfully. "Let's go for a picnic."

Half an hour later they were sitting cross-legged on the grass, looking disgustedly at tiny bread and sausages. Allie looked at Katie weirdly as she held it up.

"You can't be serious," she stated, pointing to the thing in her hands. It didn't look too much like a hot dog. In fact, it probably resembled a rather disfigured whale.

 _A whale with legs._ Allie told herself. _And mold_. Katie looked slightly sick and dropped it.

 _Good to know the quality of junk food is the same everywhere._

Chaos sighed, glaring at the whale. "I'm so sick of this." She muttered some words under her breath.

A magnificent buffet appeared. Random witnesses looked on in amazement and Katie drooled as she stared at all the different foods.

"Are these…" She breathed. "Real?" She looked like she was about to start hallucinating. Allie just eyed the tacos. Her mouth watered and she decided to do something other than sit there.

Allie squeaked, grabbing her plate and rushing towards the food. _Food._ She heaped her plate up with the crispy shells, taking almost all of them.

"Chaos?" Allie yelled, because she was on the other side of the buffet table. It was a _long_ table.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Can I have some lettuce?" Chaos shrugged and threw a bag to her. Allie blinked in surprise. She caught it with one hand and grabbed another bowl, pretty much just cracking the thing open and pouring the contests in. She liked her lettuce.

Allie sat on the grass again but Chaos gestured for her to stand up. She made a blanket float from the sky and Allie grinned.

 _That is so awesome_ , She thought.

 _Thank you,_ Chaos replied.

" _This_ is a proper picnic," Chaos said laughing. Katie stared in awe, sitting gingerly on the mat as if she expected it to be explosive. She stared at Allie's plate and her jaw literally dropped. Allie raised an eyebrow, playfully hiding her food behind her back.

"And this is only my first serving," she joked.

Katie was still staring at her in slight amazement. "Dang Pipes, where do you put all that stuff?"

Allie gently corrected her. "Allie, which is me, puts it all here." She patted her stomach proudly and chuckled so it sounded like Santa Claus. Chaos and Katie cracked up with her. Soon Allie got tired of waiting for them to stop, and just stuffed her mouth.

"Wow!" She said through the rice. "This is _good._ " Chaos rolled her eyes, poking each of them in their tummies.

"What do you think I'd do, give you guys food poisoning?" She asked indignantly.

Katie shook her head. "Of course not, Lady Chaos."

Allie rolled her eyes. _Did I always sound that stupid whenever I said that?_

"Just call her Chaos," Allie said at the same time as Chaos who said,

"Just call me Chaos." They looked at one another in mild surprise and then high-fived, smirking.

Katie sighed. "I just can't win," she sniffed sadly.

When they were all done with the food, Allie grinned at Chaos and shot a glance at Katie. Their eyes seemed mirror the same images, remembering the playful fight they'd had a few days ago.

 _Three, two, one…_

They both pounced, tickling the creator of the universe.

Lady Chaos just smirked as she was slowly encased in a pink floaty bubble just like Glinda in the Wizard of Oz. Allie gaped at her as she stuck her tongue out at both of them. Allie harrumphed. It was like she was mocking her.

Chaos just shook her head.

"When will you realize I'm a mind reader?" She asked, rolling her eyes. "Just because I don't respond doesn't mean I can't hear you."

"Copycat," Allie sighed, her body seemingly wilting.

"Hey!" Chaos looked indignant. "That movie was _my_ idea in the first place."

Katie's eyes shot open in shock.

"The Wizard of Oz was _your_ idea?" She gasped.

Chaos looked unimpressed. "Always the tone of surprise," she grumbled.

Katie and Allie pouted, crossing their arms and sticking their lower lips out. Katie had the expression of a disappointed kitten. She sniffed, batting her eyelashes at Chaos.

 _Wow_ , Allie thought, secretly amazed. _That eye-melting thing really worked out for her_. _And to think I thought_ I _was the most persuasive one here._

"How could you do this to us Chaos," Allie said, faking tears. "Will you please give me another pie?"

"Yes," Katie moaned in agreement, still eating the last bite of her pop tart.

Allie nodded vigorously. "C'mon Chaos, you're spoiling our happiness."

"Being the creator of the universe does have its perks," She replied, "I'm awesomest person ever!" Allie rolled her eyes. _Hello, Zeus persona. He can't spell words either._

"Hey!" Chaos said indignantly.

Allie rolled her eyes and made the crazy gesture with her hand.

Chaos just smirked and raised herself a little higher of the ground, still floating in that blasted bubble. Allie bit her nails in anticipation. Had it ever occurred to Chaos that bubbles could pop?

She summoned a tiny ice shard and hid it behind her back. She inwardly counted, and on three, plunged the solidified water into the surface of pink. Or at least, it should've plunged. It didn't.

The sliver of ice shattered and bounced off of the surface like oil on water. They just weren't compatible. A few sparks flew off of the surface where it had touched. Allie groaned, hitting her head with her finished plate. Katie giggled and threw a few playful punches at the bubble, her fists bouncing off of them harmlessly.

"Ow," she teased, laughing.

Allie smiled at her, feeling smug happiness. It was moments like these that she savored.

"C'mon guys," Allie told them as Chaos teleported the table away. "Can we go now? I'm bored." They both looked at her halfheartedly, not really into it.

"Please?" Allie begged. "I just gained like, 100 pounds." Katie raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.

"You know what?" She asked, catching on. "Let's train." She smirked even wider. There was an uncomfortable pause.

"You mean prank Damien?" Chaos asked, looking confused. She obviously knew training wasn't that fun for Allie. That was, unless Damien and a fart cushion were involved. She smiled evilly and rubbed her hands together.

 _Time for plan "Wrap up the Bacon"_ , She mentally told Katie.

"They are sooo going down," she smirked.

Allie grinned, saying goodbye to Chaos. "Don't you know it, Katie." They teleported out of there, ready to prepare the bait.

Five minutes later, Katie and Allie were standing over some sausages.

"Yum," Katie said, looking at them even though she'd just eaten. "Those smell delicious."

Allie grinned at her. "Smell enchantment. Should last for an hour." Personally, she thought they smelled disgusting, or at least unappetizing. Ever since that meat factory… the _stench_ … Allie shuddered. She gave it one last boost of magic and stepped away.

"It's charmed so that only you, me and the boys can smell it," Allie laughed. "With noses like those, they'll be here in no time."

"Okay, so where do I put the trapdoor?" Katie asked.

Allie had figured out a while ago that if you mixed all of the elements together, it would make a harmless but inescapable metal called Xunaci. Well, maybe not _completely_ inescapable to Damien, but with that dense mind of his, it should take him at least 30 _(very entertaining)_ minutes to figure out how to get out again.

"Over there." Allie pointed to a spot a few inches in front of the meat.

Katie nodded and placed the trap, forcing the sheer strength of the tree trunks beneath to shift under the floor and force the trapdoor to move. The door would most likely support one person, but any more and they would fall through.

Grinning, Allie recognized the trap was set and waited for the prey to fall for the bait. They hid under the cover of the leaves. True to her assumption, only ten minutes later the trio came up to the sausages, sniffing.

Damien looked at the meat in awe. Connor and Travis were practically drooling and were pushing each other to try to get to it first. Allie rolled her eyes as Damien's mouth watered and he too started for the bait. She laughed quietly, knowing that sooner or later they would fall into the door.

Just as Connor reached for the first sausage, Travis put a little too much weight on the trap and it collapsed into a deep hole, dragging Connor and Damien along with the excess of leaves. Allie and Katie looked at one another and saw that both their faces were red from stifling the giggles.

Katie and Allie screamed with laughter, slapping their foreheads at the stupidity of the male race. They were rolling around on the floor by the time the boys realized they'd been tricked.

"Dang, Katie-Kat," She heard Travis say. "And I thought _I_ was the prankster in the relationship."

Damien sighed, and Allie heard a thump and an 'ow.' _Three guesses for whoever did that._ She thought, internally laughing.

"Thanks, Connor." Katie said, grinning like she was pleased. Allie knew it was what she would've done if she had been in the hole.

"Als..." Damien tried, "Can you please free us from this… uh… hole?" His voice sounded so pleading Allie almost wanted to help him. She sniffed, looking into the musty metal hole. Almost wasn't enough.

"No." She told him smugly. Allie heard an annoyed groan, and a curse.

He said, "Fine, fine."

And then came phase two.

A shadow fell over the boys, and they looked up with paling faces. A pig, yes, a giant squealing pig, floated on the ceiling. Allie was slowly lowering it a centimeter at a time with her control over air pressure. Katie was peering over the edge with her, and they both chuckled at the boys' views on the pig's underside.

They had white faces, chattering teeth, and wide frightened eyes that looked like a koi's. They looked _terrified_. Allie's mind filled itself with images of Damien with koi eyes. She clamped her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing uncontrollably.

They watched in pride as the boys tried and failed to free themselves from the pit. They had started to shout, they were so nervous about being crushed by the giant pig.

"I wonder how they'll react when we tell them that it was called 'Wrap up the Bacon,'" Katie snorted.

Allie laughed even harder.

The pig sunk lower and lower. At this point, Damien was trying to reverse the flow of air with his wind powers, but Allie had the upper hand as she was already above him and gravity was helping.

And so, the boys were squashed by a giant pig.

That was the last time they were allowed to do pranks.

For the next five days they did nothing but train. Their lives became nothing but all work and no play. Lady Chaos insisted that they train their new recruits, so they had to do that too.

"Come _on_ , Luke!" Allie yelled, disarming him for the third time. "Get a grip, would you?"

He let out a weak laugh, and Allie helped him up. All she could think was about how weird it was that she was training someone who had previously been Damien's master.

"I see what Perce meant," He smiled widely. "You really _do_ have unlimited energy."

Allie rolled her eyes and shoved him to Zoë so she could beat him up.

She engaged Luke in hand-to-hand combat.

"Boy." She said briskly. "I'm a trainer, just like you. Engage."

He looked uncomfortably between her and Allie.

"Why am I paired with two girls?" He complained. "I'd just… I'd feel bad if I hurt them."

Damien howled with laughter because he knew what was coming next.

Zoë let out a menacing chuckle.

"I don't understand how he's a coach," she told Allie before kicking him in his soft spot.

"Boys." She scoffed, looking at his twitching face. "Idiots."

Luke screamed as he danced away from Zoë in a furious jig.

The next day Chaos ordered them to train harder and brought them more celestial bronze weapons.

Allie had no idea why she was being so paranoid, until she brought them to her office, a week later.

Chaos's office was one _scary_ place. All it had was files. Files, files and more files. Allie was literally sitting on them. She plopped herself nervously down on the seat cushion.

She had never been here before. Ever.

Everyone was gathered, Luke, Zoë, Katie, Silena, Beckendorf, Connor and Travis. And Damien, of course. They were all sitting on the couch, staring expectantly at Chaos.

She looked even more nervous than they were.

"Uh, sorry," she said, stopping all conversation. She cleared her throat as if uncomfortable with the spotlight. "I need to tell you something important."

Everyone nodded.

She looked hesitant and said, "Well, you know how Order escaped?" Damien and Allie nodded again, but the rest looked confused.

"So this is what happened…" Damien said, explaining (which took _ages_ ).

After he had finished, they all stared at Allie and Damien in slight amazement. She just blushed and looked at her toes.

 _It doesn't matter anyway._ She thought. _He got away._

Chaos took it up from there. She told them that they had to get ready, and train harder than they had ever before.

"Oh!" She said suddenly, as if remembering something. "You also have to rename yourselves." Luke looked appalled.

"Excuse me?" He said albeit crossly. "I rather like my name."

Chaos shook her head, full-out glaring. "That's not you decision, Luke. If you don't change your name, say you are sent on a mission to… Earth, perhaps? They will recognize you and identify a traitor. Same for all of you, except Zoë here." She motioned to Zoë.

"And even then, Zoë is supposed to be dead. That's bound to raise questions," she said darkly.

Luke didn't look too happy, but he nodded reluctantly.

"Oh yeah." Allie added bluntly. "You have to stop calling me Piper. I am not her anymore: she's a skin I shed the moment I stepped up as apprentice." Damien nodded solemnly, which is a rather rare occurrence.

"Same for me," He agreed, meeting the group's eyes.

"Fine." Silena consented, thinking hard. "How 'bout Sapphire?" Her beautiful blue eyes flashed as she looked at Beck for reassurance.

"It's beautiful," he promised, kissing her nose.

"Sapphire it is," She confirmed.

Zoë looked thoughtful. "I don't want to be left out," she admitted. "And I also don't want to be recognized, even if it is by Milady."

"Oh!" She said suddenly, startling all of them. "I got it!" They looked at her curiously.

"I'm Vienna." Allie marveled at the name - it was perfect for her. The name was of a strong individual, yet slightly girlish, to prove that she was a fierce female figure. Impeccable.

"And almost Ziana," Allie teased her. The newly named Vienna blushed pink.

"That was only one time!" She protested.

Everyone else looked mystified.

Chaos cleared her throat.

"Okay." Beck said firmly. "No one knows me anyway. I'm always referred to as Beckendorf. Being Charlie can't hurt, can it?" Chaos looked conflicted for a second, but then nodded her head in acceptance.

Luke looked uncomfortable. Everyone knew about his betrayal, but it didn't bother anyone anymore. He was reformed, and they all accepted that, but sometimes he had trouble convincing even himself.

"Can I be August?" He asked in a shaky voice. "You know, after my mom…" Allie felt a flash of pity. His mother… May. Of course. He wanted to feel connected to her somehow.

Allie smiled at him, trying to convey how sorry she was and how proud of him too.

"Course' August." He shot her small smile and looked at the ground. Allie felt Damien tense from beside her, and looked at him in confusion. He sent her half-hearted grin, and she shoved him gently with her shoulder blade.

Katie blushed and looked shyly at Travis, who shot her an encouraging glance.

"Alina?" She squeaked. "It's my sister's name." A flicker of sadness shadowed her face for a second.

"Killed by an empousa." Damien nodded in understanding, and Allie reached over and squeezed her hand quickly.

Connor and Travis stood up, and in booming voices announced: "Please let us introduce ourselves! We are Jace and-" Connor trailed off when he saw her flinch. Tears appeared in the corners of her eyes and her vision got blurry.

"Okay," Travis said hastily. "Scratch that." Katie slapped him on the arm and Allie nudged Damien, a cold feeling seeping into her veins. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her instantly. She leaned against him, feeling better already.

The newly named Sapphire cooed, but Allie ignored her and concentrated at Connor and Travis, who were whispering madly.

"Okay," they said a little less dramatically.

"I'm Drake," said Travis enthusiastically. Katie gasped, blushing.

"How did you know? He's my favorite artist!" Travis smirked, pecking her cheek.

"I have my ways, Katie-Kat." He replied.

Katie laughed, but it was cut off as she realized something.

"How did you figure out my iTunes password?" She grumbled.

Allie took that as a rhetorical question and turned to Connor.

"Right," he said, rubbing his hands together.

"I'm Daniel." They looked at Daniel in astounded silence. There was an awkward pause. That was just… so… _un-Connor-like._

Katie shrugged. "It's not really our decision what he wants to name himself," she chided.

 _I suppose_ , I thought. _Still confused though._

"You can call me Dan!" Daniel said enthusiastically.

 _Very confused now._

Chaos shrugged. "It's his choice."

Charlie nodded. "True, very true."

"Now on to the next thing," Chaos said firmly. "You haven't been training hard enough."

Allie raised her eyebrows. She and Damien, well, they couldn't train any more. They'd reached level 150 a long time ago - that was the level where it ended. There were no more levels for them to achieve.

Allie looked at Chaos in confusion, and she gave her a small smile. Her eyes seemed to water.

"Damien, Allie, you have already reached the top level for a demigod." They nodded curiously. "But now you have to reach the top level of a _primordial_ to have any chance of defeating Order."

She did it so fast, they couldn't do anything.

Chaos bit her lip so hard that she drew blood. Turning away from them, she dug her hand through her body, letting it pass straight through her skin. After maneuvering her hand a bit, she seemed to find what she was looking for and yanked it back out with a gasp.

Her hand came back up dragging a black orb that glittered like a round-cut diamond. Allie drew in a breath, bringing her hand to her mouth. Damien just stared at it in amazement.

"Erm, what is that?" Sapphire asked, looking nervous. Allie almost forgotten they were there.

"This… well, this is my power." Chaos said regretfully, staring at it. " _This_ is what Order was trying to steal."

They looked at it in awe, trying to comprehend her words. The beautiful glass orb swirled with tiny molecules that strengthened and glowed slightly, before dimming and repeating the process.

Chaos asked her to levitate it for her and Allie complied, urging the air pressure to rise up in support of the power that swirled within. She cocked her head to the side.

 _What's going on?_

Chaos looked at Damien imploringly, and he gave her a pleading look.

"Damien," she said softly. "You know it's for the best." Her voice hardened, and Allie knew she was taking after Athena.

She held out her palm in a no-nonsense gesture and Damien reluctantly handed her Riptide. _No_ , Allie thought as she realized what she was about to do.

"No!" She yelled aloud, throwing her hands out to stop her. "Please Chaos! You'll have no chance!"

Chaos ignored her and brought the celestial bronze down on the power, cleanly slicing it in two. She gasped, holding her chest. The two halves clattered harmlessly on the ground, coming to a stop. The power was split perfectly in two.

"No." Allie whispered, her mentor's plan finally becoming clear. "You can't be serious!" Allie rounded on her. "What is wrong with you? You're going to get yourself killed!"

Chaos closed her eyes in a peaceful expression and she visibly relaxed. She gave Allie a light tap on her shoulder and she felt immense relief surge through her limbs.

Streaks of grey became visible in Chaos's glossy black hair and ran through elegantly, ending in swirls at the bottom. Blood started easing from her stomach, but she simply ignored it and looked at them concernedly.

When she spoke her voice was raspy.

"Order… he will come for me," she said. "No matter what, I will not be able to stop him." Damien and Allie cried out in protest, but she ignored them and they were forced into silence. The other's mouths were agape, silent protests streaming from their lips.

"What matters, is if I have those powers." They looked at her with watering eyes, wondering what she was up to now. "I can't have them. I'd rather give it all to you, before letting him lay a hand on my magic."

She gave a small sad smile. "The only way he can gain possession of these powers now, is if both of you die. And that is _not_ going to happen because you are going to _win_ ," she said forcefully, "And you are going to send him back into oblivion forever, and kick his overinflated ego to...uh…"

She frowned as if forgetting something. "Actually I don't know," Chaos admitted. "I've never been there. This'll be my first death."

Damien looked pained. "I'll reform," Chaos said encouragingly. "I'll see you again soon."

Allie held her head desperately in her hands as their friends just stared at them in disbelief. It was as if everyone was too confused to think or comprehend anything properly.

"Wha...?" Charlie stammered.

Sapphire cuddled into him for warmth and Vienna scooted awkwardly in the opposite direction.

"Not my thing." She said firmly as she went to the other edge of the sofa.

Drake and Daniel looked at one another stupidly. "Was that supposed to happen?" They asked instantaneously. The twins looked at each other in irritation.

"Shut up!" They both said at the same time. Chaos rolled her eyes at the boys' antics. _Honestly, sometimes those two act like plain idiots. Really._

Chaos didn't even explain.

She just took the two halves of the shattered orb and gently blew each of the bowls of dust towards Allie and Damien. Almost as if instinct, they both inhaled automatically.

 _What the hell?_ Allie thought as she took in the power, her body turning it into mild pink mist as Damien's turned sea green.

It both sunk into their bodies and Allie suddenly felt as if she could run a hundred miles in hyperspeed.

Lady Chaos looked happy and sank, looking relieved into her chair.

"Congratulations." She said breathlessly, the two halves of the empty glass bowls still clutched in her palms. "You guys are half primordial." There was dead silence for about three seconds. Then hell broke loose.

" _WHAT?_ " Allie and Damien glared at her in outrage at not being consulted first.

Sapphire and Charlie were ignoring everything and cuddling in the corner of the couch. Vienna looked at Allie with eyes as wide as moons and the twins just looked dumbfolded (not that they were any better before). Alina was holding Drake's hand and she curled up beside him, as if unable or unwilling to comprehend what she'd just seen. Allie couldn't blame her. She wanted to do the same.

Allie eyed her with a frosty look.

"Excuse me?" She hissed.

Chaos held her hands up in a term of surrender.

"You're not immortal!" She said quickly. "I promise you… you can still be killed."

Their friends looked at them in utter confusion.

Allie and Damien had told Chaos a while ago that no matter what, _they_ wanted to have control over their lives, and be able to end it and enjoy the underworld in peace.

If the enemy had one of them captured and was torturing them, they could choose to end it right there, no matter what.

There was a tiny tattoo on the back of her wrist. It was a miniature dove that opened its beak in an invisible song; gracefully flapped it's wings. If Allie needed to, she could tap it and her heart would stop immediately. No pain, no nothing. They could never get information out of her - no matter how hard they tried.

Now Allie saw a tiny phoenix appearing on the underside of her other wrist, and she recognized it immediately. The bird trilled silently, and turned its wide eyes to her, curving its beak in what was an attempt of a smile. It's fiery wings spread majestically as he let out a caw, bringing his head up to the sky.

"Flash." Allie breathed, touching the small phoenix. Where her fingertips connected with skin, electric shocks ran through her body and she flinched backwards.

"If they try to get the power from you," Chaos told them. "You can transfer it from one person to another."

They looked blankly at her, the shock coming finally catching up to them.

"For example." She said briskly. "Right now, you are 50, 50. If one of you is captured, he or she will tap Flash and when that person taps the tattoo, the power will be temporarily transferred to the other person."

She looked directly at us.

"If your partner is trapped, get them out at all _costs_." She looked dark for a second. "You do _not_ want to know what they are capable of."

Allie nodded numbly, her eyes filling up with tears.

She didn't say a word and walked out of the room silently.

 _Time to begin training, I suppose_ , she thought numbly.

And it was that simple. For the next thousand years, that's all they did.

Train.

 **Guys, please review. Please! I swear I will give you an imaginary cookie if you do. OuO**


	7. Chapter 7

"C'mon Daisy!" Allie yelled, dodging a spear. "You call that sparring? You're skills are as ugly as your face."

His expression cracked in a bright grin.

"You're on, Lili." Damien panted, parrying her thrust and throwing his hideous shield at her face like a disk.

"Dammit!" She grumbled as the tip caught the skin above her cheekbone and leaving a trail of red. Damien skillfully caught the disk as it thundered towards him like a boomerang. She took her chance as he was preoccupied. Wielding her sword to distract him, Allie feinted a slice as she rolled and jabbed Katoptris into his knee.

"Ow… _Ow_!" He yelled, hopping on one foot as blood streamed from a deep cut in his knee. Allie, being the good sport she was, waited for him to recover.

 _Well, that was stupid,_ she thought to herself, realizing it a second before it happened.

He spun around in a circle and dodged her blade. He slashed downwards, and she winced as he scraped some skin from her arm, getting aggressively in her face. Chaos knew she had too many scars already.

Allie almost rolled her eyes as he took a step back and his eyes filled with worry, but she played it up, and fake-limped over to him as if for support. He raised a hand to steady her, but before he could blink Allie had disarmed him and Riptide clattered uselessly to the ground.

She brought Katoptris to his neck and realization flooded his eyes.

"No fair!" He complained childishly, raising his arms in surrender. "I was being nice!"

Allie shook her head. "Damien, if you're nice to the enemy, then you can pretty much kiss your sorry life goodbye."

He sighed, rubbing the back of his head in humiliation.

"I guess." He mumbled.

She ruffled his hair, laughing.

"Don't be embarrassed Daisy. We're all girls here."

He pouted. "Aww dangit," he said looking disappointed.

"Round two?" Allie questioned.

"Even though I'll probably lose again… Yes." Allie shot him a fond smile and he returned it.

"Right, Daisy. Now this is the part where I kick your butt. Powers or no?" She asked.

He looked conflicted for a second.

"Powers, I guess," he decided. "I'm sick of brute strength and I've been practicing a new trick, you might even fall for it." Allie saw his smirk and prepared to make him take it back.

It one smooth movement, their swords clashed, sparks flying. She summoned a small gust hot wind in the shape of a sword, prepared to knock Riptide out of his hand when he let out a yell as a wave crashed over his head, condensing the aerial strike.

Allie put her hands in front of her and held the water with brute strength, pushing it back to Damien and dousing him. While it seemed smart at the time, Allie facepalmed as she realized she'd just given him the element advantage.

She twisted her hands in the air, struggling to grasp control from her friend. Her muscles contracted as they mentally fought, striving to be dominant.

Damien attempted to control the gallons of water swirling above him in a funnel. He finally gave up and conjured a bubble of fire just as the water washed over him. While the fire shield evaporated the water around him, Allie shot a bunch of ice spikes at his throat.

He shot a blast of ordinary fire at her that both got rid of the ice and was an effective attack.

 _Impressive,_ she admitted. _I'll have to remember that._

Allie flew into the air and challenged him, bringing Katoptris up and slicing a gash in his knee. She was sent reeling when a gust of cold wind pushed her back, and she started fighting with her own. With agony, Allie slowly brought both hands up and watched as the arena floor shadowed her hand movements.

The earth sprang to life as she fought, trying to capture Damien in one of her claw-like earthen hands. Suddenly, he let out a roar, and water exploded from inside of him, wrapping his body in the liquid and lifting him slowly off of the ground and into the air, his arms raised high.

Alie was so shocked that she could do nothing but watch. She was horrified, seeing that the water was still pouring out of his chest like blood. Allie felt a flicker of worry, and then shook it off. Whatever he was doing, the water would heal him anyway.

She watched in awe as the water rippled and molded into a small somewhat body-like form, Damien disappearing into the murky surface. The small water blob grew and elongated, until it couldn't anymore, as restricted by the roof of the arena.

She studied the water giant a little bit more, and found there was something in the middle, something that looked like a core. In the middle of the water giant, was _Damien_ , controlling the entire thing with his body movements. He took a firm step towards me and the giant mimicked his action.

Her jaw literally dropped. Damien let out another roar, challenging her. His form, flickering and tiny, floated inside an embodiment of water. A literal water giant faced her, and the little earthen hands seemed puny in comparison.

Towering at least fifty feet, the figure shook itself again and let out another bellow, ripping away the roof of the arena which limited its ability to stand. The ceiling landed with a loud crash somewhere to her left and Allie heard several yelps and screams, and it occurred to her that we might have spectators.

She had one simple thought in her mind. _Gods. Chaos is going to_ murder _us._

Allie knew she had to do something similar to have any chance of beating him, and with the small crowd gathering, she knew she had to do it fast. She would _not_ under any circumstances be humiliated in public by her best friend.

 _No way_.

Allie thought briefly about her tactics. The best option would be to play him at his own game, but Allie wasn't quite sure how to conjure up the avatar like the water one he was holding.

Plus, water was out of the question because it was Damien's element; he would wipe the floor with her. Earth too, the material would be too condensed and she needed to be able to see out of it. Fire… well; it would be too bright. She'd be blinded by the light and unable to efficiently attack. The last element… Air? Was it even possible?

 _Well, I don't have anything to lose anyway,_ she thought glumly.

Instead of gathering the air from inside of her, like Damien had done, she stretched out her fingers and summoned the portion of the purest air from the four planets. Allie screamed as strenuous agony ripped through her body, trailing from her heart down to her stomach from the effort of the summoning.

"Well, there's a first time to everything," Allie grunted to herself. _Another scar, another battle._

She felt power rushing into her fingertips, waiting for her command. It flooded her, caressing gently as Allie was lifted slowly in the air. She let out another scream as she raised her fists over her head and slammed them into the ground. The scream, this time, wasn't one of pain, but one of strength. A shockwave shook the ground as Damien's water warrior tumbled and landed hard.

Some of its form seemed to be getting loose from his hold and Allie could see Damien's face turning red from the effort as he tried to force the water back to it's original state. Allie figured she had to use this time to her advantage before he realized she was copying his move and tried to stop her.

Her muscles strained as they struggled to contain the excited gas and keep it from escaping. Finally, she formed a translucent, airtight protective layer that she spread evenly like armor.

Allie didn't need to use any levitation skills to keep her afloat in the warrior (which was the same size as the water one) because the air supported her by itself, the molecules flooding the ground beneath her feet.

Roaring a challenge of her own, Allie lunged forward and grappled with her opponent, throwing him to the ground. Normally she wouldn't have been this rough with Damien but she knew that she didn't need to hold back anymore - their elements were supporting them.

What Allie found the most interesting was that she could solidify and vice versa the state of air. As Damien lunged for her, Allie curiously held out her hand to stop him, seeing if she could do what she thought she could.

To Damien's horror, his swung fist passed straight through her avatar's arm.

 _Ha! Killed it_ , she thought smugly. Allie then coated her warrior in conductive ice, sending sparks jumping off its form. Her giant flickered, immediately solid again. She charged at him, letting his flailing fists pass harmlessly through her but pressing her blows deep into his defenses.

Damien was desperately trying to vaporize his water avatar in an attempt to have the same advantage as she did. No such luck. Every time he evaporated the water, it simply condensed back into its previous form, rendering Damien's struggle pointless. Giving a growl of frustration, he let the water melt off of his body, the substance running uselessly down.

He tensed and Allie braced myself. While she had the advantage of size on her side, he had speed and agility, which would make it hard to land any blows. Shaking her head, Allie let her air warrior evaporate into thin air, deciding that in this fight her avatar would only be a disadvantage.

Spreading her fingers, Allie let out a deep sigh, imagining all of the air she had borrowed returning to the four planets, all the worry and anger she bottled up being whisked away with them. Her heart felt lighter and she sank gently to the ground, an unimaginable sense of uncertainty lifted off her shoulders. Allie closed her eyes and a tranquil feeling washed over her.

Her head cleared.

 _I can do this._

She raised both hands over her head and thrust them towards Damien in a complicated gesture. He recognized it and dodged just as the fire snake erupted from her palms and propelled itself to him. She smiled as Damien battled with it for a little while before extinguishing it with water, the snake giving a final hiss.

Before he could attack again, She lowered her palms to the ground and two solid hurricanes formed and burst from either side of her. She combined them to form a huge tornado, one that towered over both of them.

Damien sighed. "I knew this would come back to bite me," he said.

The whirlpool towered precariously over him, and Damien took a few nervous steps back. She willed the tornado to retreat a little, because she needed to think about what to do with it. Allie had mainly created it to threaten Damien, and to make him feel intimidated. Now that it was there, she didn't quite know what to do with it.

Meanwhile, thunder crackled in both of their palms, and they both seemed electrified with excitement.

 _I love electricity battles!_ Allie thought gleefully.

Yelling, Allie sent a large bolt of lightning in Damien's direction. He didn't even bother to deflect it, only dodging before sending a blast of his own. Allie reached forward and grasped the larger version of Zeus's master bolt, swinging it around her head a few times before launching it at Damien as hard as she could. He jumped as the edge caught his training jacket and he was shocked slightly.

The lightning bolt left a black crater in the wall behind Damien, but he looked determined, smirking and holding something behind his back. In a split second, he launched it at her, and she caught it curiously before realizing what it was.

"Damien!" She yelled in fury, electric tingles shooting up her spine. "That's _cheating_!" He just grinned from the other side of the battle.

"You never said that tickle balls were banned!" He called back, laughing at her expression.

The ball expanded until it was a small winged creature with lots of arms.

 _Uh oh,_ Allie thought nervously backing away. The thing launched itself at her and wrapped around her legs and arms, binding her so that she was unable to escape.

"Ahhh!" Allie screamed as tears streamed down her cheeks. She squirmed, laughing so hard that she thought she would vomit. Allie writhed, trying to throw the ball off but it just held on tighter. Her vision was blurry with tears, until she finally managed to grab one of the wings and prevent it from flying away.

Allie shrieked, finally disentangling Damien's unfair advantage and tearing the ball off of her. She incinerated it in anger, and glowered at Damien so hard she half expected holes to appear.

He sent a tsunami-sized wave, hoping to end the tornado beside her and give him time to strategize. Allie snorted. _Well that was stupid._ Damien's influence over water was only slightly better than hers. Allie knew that if it came to a one-on-one battle of water, he would win, but did he really think that she couldn't even stop his puny water fountain?

Fluidly, Allie held up one hand and the water stopped in midair, evaporating as she sent a blast of white-hot fire at him.

"Chaos." Allie said in amusement as Damien dodged and twirled like a ballerina, his plans to take her down forgotten. These flames were the only ones that neither of them could quench, making them a very dangerous weapon.

Just as she was about to discontinue firing, Damien had stopped dodging, standing still as the blast of the fire shot towards him.

Allie let out a small gasp, and tried to withdraw the fire back, but it was too far-gone on its trail for her to be able to control it. He stood calmly and waited for the fire to hit.

"Move!" Allie screamed. " _MOVE_!" Tears streaked down her face as she had a split second to think that her Damien's death was her fault. _Why aren't you moving_? He could have ducked, dodged, avoided.

Allie sent hopeless bursts of water to combat the fire but it was no use. She forced herself into sudden hyperspeed, even as she calculated she wouldn't make it.

Damien didn't budge and held out his hands in a triangle formation. To her surprise, he had a glass triangle in his hands, and he directed up upwards, shooting her a reassuring glance. He didn't even flinch as the flames struck, but they shot upward into the sky, exploding with a colossal smash.

When Allie managed to blink the dust out of her eyes, she saw the arena was a wreck, but that wasn't her concern at all.

Allie frantically searched around, expecting to find some charred crisp that was her best friend.

But standing perfectly unscathed was Damien as he offered a hand to help her up.

"So how was that for a surprise?" He asked, winking cheekily.

Ignoring his hand, Allie helped herself up and dusted her clothes off, feeling her face burning as it dawned on her that she had been beaten. Beaten by a freaking glass triangle. Her fists clenched and Damien warily took a step back.

"AURGH!" She screamed, her temper exploding and overflowing. She growled, slapping him in the face. He staggered, wiping away the blood that started to flow from his nose. He summoned a bottle of water and poured it on his face, letting it wash away the injury.

"How could you _do_ that?" Allie demanded. Even Damien, the knucklehead he was, recognized the start of a furious rant.

"Sorry?" He squeaked, hastily retreating several steps.

"You _idiot_!" She yelled, punching him with her fists. "You could have _died_! Are you into suicidal stuff or something? Why the hell would you do that? You scared me half to death!" Allie kicked him in his soft spot with her heeled boot. Emphasis on _heeled_.

His expression changed into that of someone really needing to pee. "I'm sorry, but I knew it would work, Charlie and I were finding metals and looking into…" He trailed off, seeing her expression change into something remarkably similar to a saber-toothed tiger.

He gulped and she intensified her glare. " _Come again?_ "

"Well, Charlie and I were like… experimenting…"

" _AND YOU DECIDED TO DO THIS WHY?"_ She shrieked. _"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND?"_

Even though Allie was utterly pissed, she still managed to mute the second to last word of the sentence. There was quite a crowd gathered, and she didn't want to upset the children.

 _The children_ , she suddenly remembered, and continued far quieter, yelling at him in a whisper.

Over the years, Damien and Allie were pretty much evenly matched. After training for so long though, who wouldn't be? The seven of them had grown on each other like siblings, and she would give her life for any one of them.

Twenty-three years ago, they had both reached level 150, the top level possible for a primordial. Hell, she and Damien could wipe the floor with Vienna (Zoë) and August (Luke) by now. All of their friends had reached the top levels for a demigod, and that was a huge achievement.

She looked so different from the scared little girl that had emerged from earth. Allie _felt_ so different from the betrayed mask that left her. Now that all that was gone, the pretense all washed away, Allie was finally free to be herself. The _real_ her.

Her hair had grown longer, much longer. Instead of shoulder-length hair, it had grown and cascaded down her back in ringlets. Allie was annoyed at first, and cut quite a few of them off, until Chaos stopped her, and showed her how to morph her smooth hair into the choppy style that she liked.

Allie never did anything serious, but dyed a few streaks of light pink into her braided hair. Each tiny streak was a symbol- it kept her from fading into some false façade that everything was okay, that she would never have to face them again. Each streak was a symbol of the people that betrayed them.

Recently, Allie would braid a mix of her normal shade of hair and a slight lock of violet, intertwining blue-jay feathers from earth into them. Sapphire had brought them back especially for Allie on her last mission, but refused to tell her anything about it.

She had a small tattoo on the small of her back, as did Damien. He told her it was where his Achilles heel had been, and that if he could choose, his anchor would have been her all along.

Allie was so touched by this; she decided to get a tattoo as a memorial of the moment forever. Not the live ones that Chaos created, but a simple phrase done by needle. Black ink crafted magnificently and gracefully, the swirls forming beautiful words that she believed with all her heart.

 _People need to find their other half. You can pretend, you can hold, but you can never have true happiness until you find the other part of your soul._

Allie didn't quite know what she thought of the quote at first, but as she replayed it in her mind, she discovered that she liked it more and more. Allie was inspired to write it by one of the tales of the gods.

Apparently, the gods were afraid that humans, who had four arms and four legs, would become too powerful (typical Zeus paranoia), and split them in half, leaving the mortals to spend their lifetime searching for their true love.

Allie was really moved by the story and - again - amazed at how utterly arrogant the gods were that she kept thinking of famous poems, which led her to thinking of lines of her own.

Damien followed her lead and invented his own quote, which surprised her to no end. Finally, she had settled on the quote on her back and a tiny tattoo on her heel: PJ. Damien had done similarly, asking for PM on his own heel.

Allie shook her head, lifting her heel to her and and pressing the little black mark.

"You are going to be so dead, you and Charlie both," she told him, finally calming her racing heart.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," she whispered quietly to him after they had gotten away from the crowd.

"Okay," he replied gently back. "I really am sorry."

She slipped her hand in his. "I know." She smirked. "Forgive me, kind sir, for breaking your nose."

"None taken, Fair Lady," he teased right back. "I am invincible, after all."

She leaned her head into his shoulder. "Let's see how invincible you are after your encounter with Chaos."

He groaned. "And I thought I'd gotten out of it."

She smirked. "Not a chance, Daisy."

"Right back at you Als. I guess I'll see you soon," he said sadly.

"Good luck walking to your doom," she laughed.

"See you, Allie-Gator," he nudged her shoulder playfully.

She facepalmed. "That's getting _so_ old, Daisy. Will you ever stop?"

"No," he said simply.

 _Good_ , Allie thought privately.

"In a while, crocodile," she saluted, heading back to see Sapphire.

Just as she was about to enter her sister's house, a buzzing on her wrist alerted her to a message.

She pressed the tiny cell and held it up to her ear, letting the little microphone extend to her mouth.

"Chaos?" She said in surprise as she recognised the ID. "Why are you calling me?"

"We have a problem," the voice came, sounding panicked. "Really, really big problem!"

Allie was instantly on the alert. "Are you okay Commander? Do you need help?"

She could practically feel her agitation. "Allie, gather the guardians - also your old mentors."

"What's going on? Where are you?" She asked quickly.

"Just get to my office," Chaos barked. "In five, I want to see you with all your friends."

"Yes Commander," Allie straightened, feeling relieved that she was already at Sapphire's. She knocked, barely giving it time to ring before she put in her fingerprint and barged in.

"Saph! C'mon, let's go… _ugh_." Allie looked awkwardly at the ceiling as Charlie and her sister jumped apart. They both blushed beet red, struggling to look innocent.

"Knock!" Sapphire squealed. "Knock, Allie! _Knock!_ "

Allie's face was so colored she could have been a tomato for all it mattered.

"Okay guys, this was… weird, but Chaos wants us in her office. Yeah, the files one," she added before Charlie could ask.

"Take my arm," Allie ordered, "no time for you guys to practice your teleportation." They grasped on to her elbows.

"Charlie, mail Damien, that boy can teleport himself," she grumbled.

Instantly, they disappeared, only to arrive at Vienna's house.

"Vienna!" Sapphire called. " _Viennnna_!"

"Saph," Vienna acknowledged, coming down the stairs. She yawned, looking like she'd rather be asleep.

Allie smirked. "Well, you did do this to me for about fifty years," she said laughing, as she poured water over her friend.

Vi stared at her, dripping. "I'll get you back for this."

The smile melted off Allie's face. "We should go through, Chaos wants us. She didn't use any of the codewords so she's not in trouble or being held hostage, but we still should hurry."

Vienna nodded briskly, latching on to her shoulder.

They disappeared again, repeating the process several times until they had all their friends gathered.

"Alright," Allie said irritably. "I'm going to stretch my arms out and everyone grab a finger, or shoulder. Ready? One...two..."

Chaos started as they appeared in her office.

"That was more that five minutes, Allie," she chided. "Damien was here far before you."

"Well, he didn't have to pick up a gazillion other people," she pointed out.

Chaos looked mollified. "I suppose," she agreed. "Well, sit down."

They all sat.

Allie realized she hadn't been in the office for at least a hundred years. And each time she had been here, it had been to deliver bad news.

Lady Chaos hesitated, "We need to find our final guardian," she said softly.

Allie blinked, expecting something much worse. "Is that all?" She asked confusedly, her friends looking the same.

"You don't _understand!_ " She growled. "We need to find her. We're running out of time."

"Running out of time?" Damien's eyes sharpened. "What aren't you telling us?"

Their Commander sighed. "I'm sorry, I… It needs to stay secret. I shouldn't have seemed so rushed on the phone. It's..." she hesitated. "It's not a big deal."

Vienna's sharp tongue wasn't burdened by her words.

"Another secret?" She said angrily. "Remember the last time you kept a secret? It landed you in the hospital for two decades!"

Chaos flinched.

"Vi," Allie said warningly. "That's enough." Vienna huffily sat back down.

"So, we have to find the last Guardian of Neptune?" Alina checked. "Cause that would be great - it would halve my work!"

Chaos just rubbed her head. "Please, just try to find the person," she said quietly. "I wanted to inform you of this as soon as possible, just, humor an old woman."

Allie nodded briskly, already making plans on the best routes to scout.

"Yes Commander," she said finally, raising her hand in a salute.

\- Linebreak -

Allie couldn't sleep. Or rather, she didn't _want_ to sleep. It was just… the nightmares that were plaguing her. There was nothing more awful than that. After pacing for a few hours, she walked over to the door separating her room from Damien's room.

"Day?" She called quietly.

"Here Als."

She opened the door and slipped in. Damien was sitting at the foot of his bed, the haunted look back in his eyes. The look of anger and shame and millions of emotions that she knew was a part of him. But that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Hey." She whispered.

He said nothing just opened his arms for her. She curled up against him, sighing contentedly and pulling one of his arms around her. She piled both of her legs on top of his and they just lay there for a while, drawing comfort in one another just being there.

Damien buried his head in her neck and she leaned into him, knowing how tense he was. They both were. But the steady heartbeats of one another was enough to make the pair relax, at least until morning.

"Day?" She murmured a while later. "Can you lie with me? Just for tonight. I get really cold, and a little scared… not for me," she corrected. "But for you. Our friends. Chaos."

He looked at her in a way that showed he understood and nodded sadly.

"Me too." He lay down on his mattress and rolled over so that she could get under the covers too.

They lay there looking at the glowing stickers that Damien had found in the local grocery store. Allie silently wished their lives could be that simple.

However, the break out of Order, and the strange, unsteady attitude of Chaos's had taken it's toll. It felt like the life had slowly drained out of one another. It was the feeling of approaching doom.

"Als," Damien began, "You know I love you right?"

"I love you too, Aqua Boy." Allie replied affectionately, butting her head into his.

"Forever and ever," He murmured.

"Forever and ever." She echoed.

He sighed; they curled up against one another.

"Night She-Who-Is-Awesome."

"Night Trident Face."

He chuckled, and Allie could feel the rumbling deep in his chest.

"New nickname?" Damien asked.

"Yeah." She replied.

"How many of those you got now?" Allie could feel his grin.

"Thirty seven."

"Night."

"Night."

The next morning, Allie woke up surprisingly comfortable. Looking around her face went aflame as she realized that Damien was completely wrapped around her, and their legs were intertwined. As quietly as possible, she tried to ease out of his grip, but he let out a mumble every time she tried.

Trying to make the best of the situation, she leaned back into the position she had been in before and he let out a rumble of contentment.

Then when she took a moment to acknowledge the situation she realized that she felt genuinely… safe. And that was most definitely not normal. Deciding to ignore the feeling, she smiled into his chest, and fell right back to sleep.

\- Linebreak -

A few hours later, Allie yawned and stretched, feeling completely refreshed. She shook with silent laughter as she realized that Damien was still asleep _._

 _Silly, silly boy_ , She thought. _That's my Trident Face._

She yawned once more and then gently but firmly pried herself out of his grasp, going into the shower and changing. Once that was off her checklist, she went to wake Damien.

But when she entered his room she took in a breath of worry. There were beads of sweat on Damien's forehead and he kept groaning in horror.

"Fish Breath, time to wake up…" She murmured as soothingly as she could while approaching the bed.

He wouldn't respond. She shook him harder but no avail. He started shaking and his eyelids had the form of tears pooling in them.

"Damien! _"_ Allie started to panic _. This must be worse than the others._

He shook as his arms came up to grasp invisible people, only to be yanked back and thrown back in his face. Tears were running down both of their faces. She couldn't bear to see Damien in pain.

"Please Damien… Damien, it's Allie, please! Wake up!" She cried.

At her name he jumped up and his eyes shot open. As soon as he saw her he grabbed her in a tight hug and just sat there for a while gasping and confirming she was real.

"Oh thank gods!" He breathed over and over. "Thank Chaos you're alright Piper. Thank Chaos. Thank anyone. Hell, thank Annabeth!" She jerked away from him in shock. He hadn't said the name in… forever. But he didn't seem to care, only pulling her back.

"Dear Chaos. That was the worst… the worst I've ever had… thank gods..." He pulled away as if seeing her for the first time.

"I need to go talk to Chaos." He murmured. She grasped his hand in unspoken agreement.

By the time they had got to Lady Chaos's door, they were laughing and cheerful again, but the large black door was a reminder of the horrible dream Damien had suffered from.

Allie pushed open the door, trying to ignore the horrible sense of forbidding that extended over her like a wave.

Lady Chaos was at the door immediately.

"Allie, Damien." She acknowledged.

"Chaos." They both said.

"Is something wrong?" Chaos asked, a sliver of concern showing on her face.

Damien shuddered. "I had a vision."

She eyed him nervously. " _The_ vision?"

He gave a terse nod.

Lady Chaos reeled in horror. "It's time. Get the others."

"What?" Allie asked. She was utterly confused.

"Let's go," Damien said quietly. "We should get our friends."

"Day?" Allie tugged on his sleeve. "What's going on?"

He just kept walking.

"Damien!" She growled, refusing to move.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said, sighing in exhaustion. "Please just trust me."

Allie hesitated. "Alright. But only because it's you."

After knocking on all of their friends' doors, they led the way back to Chaos's house, and even though the Stolls' were adamant about pestering Damien about his dream, he refused to say anything.

"Again?" Charlie had muttered as he and Sapphire had jumped apart for the second time.

"Talk about deja vu," Sapphire had grumbled.

When they got there, Chaos had already set out placemats and a nice looking breakfast that consisted of a large bowl of fried eggs and a fruit salad for Allie. They gathered around the table and Chaos looked at them with her usual grave face.

"When I gave them my power, I hadn't anticipated that my prophetic nature would even show. I thought it would have been drowned out by the other powers I gave them. But recently, it seems that Damien has been having dreams… that may turn into actual events."

Wide-eyed, they all stared at her.

"What?" Allie breathed.

"Yes," Chaos said. "And I assume you will start to have it too."

Allie's eyes dilated in fear.

"B-but I have." She managed to say. "I've had the dreams already. It was a few years ago and I thought it was just a really vivid nightmare… but…"

Lady Chaos paled. "We are even more behind schedule than we thought!" Her face conveyed her panic.

"We must load the ships right away! It is of the utmost importance! If Order kills of the demigods, then… Earth will be destroyed." Realization dawned on her face, and she was forced to sit down.

There was instant uproar, so loud that even Chaos couldn't contain it.

"No!" Sapphire cried, her hands coming up to to her face. Charlie stood frozen, his expression a mixture between hatred and horror.

A cascade of fury was growing on the twins' faces.

"That's our planet! People are depending on us - we're the Guardians!" Daniel roared. "Send us there! Now!"

Drake nodded, the normally playful expression gone from his face.

"We need to go," he said quietly, his voice almost lost in the stream of curses coming out of August's mouth. Vienna didn't respond, just closed her eyes and tried not to demolish the couch they were all sitting on.

Allie held her head in her hands, and she walked over to Damien. They leaned on one another, trying to accept the burden that was going to come with the attack.

"I'm sending you all," Chaos said softly, but it halted any conversation.

She turned to Allie and Damien, worried.

"I'm so sorry. I know I swore but I have no choice. I _must_ send you to earth."

There was stunned silence.

Damien was the first to break.

" _What?_ " He yelled. "Why would you send us _there_? You know how much we _hate_ it there!"

It was the first time Chaos had cried in thirty years.

"You have to! If you don't, all hope is lost!"

Allie just stood speechless. She couldn't believe it. After all this… After all this she was going to be sent to her own personal hell? Why would Chaos do this? What could she possibly gain?

A few tears ran down her cheeks.

She had sworn that she would do anything to protect civilians from Order… but did the camp count as civilians? After all they were all traitors. But there were the new campers, it had been many centuries since she'd been there and since they didn't live centuries as the Merioupians did, most of the traitors would be dead…

"I'll do it," Allie whispered.

Chaos turned to look at her in shock.

"W-what?" Her eyes were hopeful, but her posture was of a defeated woman.

"I'll do it," Allie repeated, more certain than before. "These aren't the old campers were talking about. They've probably died ages ago. These are new ones, demigods that probably have no idea who the hell Piper McLean and Percy Jackson are. We're just legends to them, they would never know it's us."

Damien contemplated that. "I guess." He said slowly.

"But I still want some kind of disguise. Honestly, I don't want to go at all, but if Allie goes, staying isn't an option." She gave him a soft smile. It was sort of an unspoken pact between them.

Together or not at all.

The next few weeks were awful. Panicked soldiers boarding ships, Officers barking orders, Spellsmiths casting unbreakable curses on our hoods as not to be revealed. It was chaos.

In a month, everything was set. Chaos calmly flew in front of the battleships and after a few hours, gave the pilots the motion to halt.

\- Linebreak -

"Artemis, I forbid you to get another hunter! It is unacceptable-"

"Zeus! How dare you chastise your daughter, just to ignore the fact that you cheated on me! _Again!_ "

"Hera, it was a mistake, I swear, and I have important news to discuss!"'

"I rue the day I ever thought to marry you!"

"Now, sweetheart, don't be like that."

"Oh? _Oh?_ I wonder how many _other_ women you've said _that_ to."

"Please Honeycakes! Let's discuss this some other time! I have a reputation to obtain!"

"The reputation of being a lying, despicable pig? Just because you are a cheating, scum-like manwh-"

" _SILENCE_!" Artemis finally yelled. "I have _had_ it!"

Everyone shut up.

"You _idiotic_ Olympians listen to me, and listen well! You are _not_ to complain, you are _not_ to bicker, and you are going to calmly, nicely, _kindly_ explain what is going on without - "

"Ah Artemis." The voice shook with laughter. "I told your mother to teach you to curb your temper."

The fire left her eyes and she smiled genuinely for the first time in days.

"Grandmother?" Artemis asked quietly with a voice full of hope. "Is it really you?"

Chaos's afterimage followed her as she seeming stepped out of thin air.

"Grandmamma!" Artemis cried, bursting into tears. She morphed into her five year old form and sprinted for the shadowy form.

"I'm so mad, and happy, but mad… and how could you leave me with these _horrible pigs_ through two terrible wars?" She shook her head rapidly.

"I'm sorry my Moonflower." Chaos sighed. "But I'm afraid I bring grave news."

At this, Zeus seemed to get over his shock and raised his Master Bolt.

"Who are you?" He thundered. "How dare you interrupt our meeting!"

Lady Chaos chuckled, managing to make it sound poised and cool. "Who am I? Who am _I_? I am the creator, _your_ creator, and it would do you good to _watch your tongue_."

Zeus paled, but didn't throw the bolt. "You're lying."

Chaos just cocked her eyebrow. "Can you prove that I'm lying?" She asked.

Hera stuttered. "N-no my Lady."

Chaos smiled. "I will forgive your behavior on account of your _charming_ wife, Zeus." Her voice was heavily laden with sarcasm. "Do not make the same mistake again."

Zeus seemed to shake himself out of a daze. "Yes. I formally apologize. Thank you for excusing my awful demeanor."

Chaos smiled thinly at her least favorite creation. "You do that."

Athena looked shocked, her large grey eyes blinking owlishly.

"You're Lady Chaos…" She stated in horror.

The other gods seemed to snap out of their shock.

"Why so sad sis?" Ares asked rudely. "Did I mix up him and me with me and I again? Oh wait…" He shot her a nasty grin.

Chaos scowled. Her least favorite spawn of her least favorite creation. Of course. And what was worse than that was she didn't even have the power to shut him up anymore.

Athena ignored him.

"In the tales," she began shakily, "Chaos only appeared before the gods when they were in dire need."

Chaos nodded. "That's right." She said. "The titan war was far from dire need, and though the giants came close, they didn't make it. However, I came to warn you that a third war is approaching."

Artemis looked worried and was just recovering from her tears. She still clutched on to Lady Chaos like she was a lifeline and stood up straighter at hearing that.

"My hunters will be ready Grandmother." She said firmly, detaching herself from Chaos after one more hug.

"I know Moonflower. However, nothing less than all the gods fighting together will help us defeat our foe." She looked at Athena.

"I believe you know who he is, don't you Athena?"

Athena looked positively terrified as she stuttered out the answer.

"N-no…" she said trembling. "It can't b-be." Chaos only nodded solemnly.

"Order has been free for almost ten centuries. He is only now acting, and his target? Earth."

Athena let out a sob and held her face in her hands.

Chaos sighed. "Zeus, call the others."

He looked at her fearfully; worried he might say something rude. "Who, your highness?"

"Everyone." She said fiercely. "Anyone who can possibly fight, I want them on Mount Olympus. Now."

Zeus nodded. "Right away… er… your highness."

Zeus clapped his hands and instantly, thunder raged all around the world. In a matter of seconds, both camps, the hunters, satyrs, and wood nymphs had assembled. They were in their pajamas. Mount Olympus was now ridiculously crowded.

"Expand the place, Zeus!" Chaos snapped.

"Right away!" He replied quickly.

And as the gods' throne room widened, the so-called 'army' breathed a sigh of relief as they had a bit of legroom to themselves. The hunters were glaring murderously at any boys that so much as looked at them.

Lady Chaos just smiled.

"Greetings!" She called, her voice louder than she had been before.

Everyone stopped and stared at this newcomer who dared talk before Zeus.

"I am Lady Chaos, creator of the universe."

The Athena cabin paled. Malcolm fainted.

"I have come here to inform you of an approaching war," Chaos continued.

Cries of the people rose up until she could not be heard any longer.

" _SILENCE_!" Artemis roared for the second time that day. Even as a five year old she was intimidating.

"Listen to her." She hissed. Everyone seemed to quiet down after that. Especially the boys.

"She has a lot to say, and I sincerely hope you listen, because if you don't, it will likely result in your death." Artemis said.

Everyone froze.

"Death?" A son of Vulcan asked. "Don't we die enough already? Who are you to tell us what to do? How do we even know you're telling us the truth?"

Chaos's eyes pulsed and morphed into little spheres of vortex.

"You think you've seen _death_? You are not facing _Thanatos_! What we are facing is mass slaughter by the hundreds! Brutal, nerve curdling torture! You think you know death? My soldiers have lost their minds because they have gotten into the hands of the enemy you will be facing. Do you understand? Death… will seem like a peaceful ending compared to what you have in store for yourselves."

There was not a drop of color in any of the occupants' faces.

Chaos whirled around to turn on the gods.

"And _you_!" She spat. "I can sense it. You think you're safe, and you're perfectly content to condemn your children to such an awful _fate_! Well, here's a piece of information that you will want to know."

Athena's eyes were downcast. "I knew it." She muttered. Her back curved, and her normally straight posture crumbled.

"Order is ten times more powerful than Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades combined. You think he won't torture you? He tortured _me_!"

Ares gasped. "B-but you're Chaos! _The_ Chaos! He can't torture _you_!"

"Believe it pretty boy." A dark voice growled from the other side of the room.

Zeus had his bolt aimed towards the noise in a second, but Chaos ran in front of it before it could be thrown.

If Chaos had glowered any harder at Zeus he would've been be a melted puddle of ego on the ground.

"Zeus, do that again and I swear it will be the last fucking thing you do," she said so fiercely that Zeus seemed to shrink into his seat. It was the first time anyone had heard Chaos swear.

"Relax Chaos, we're not seventeen anymore." Another voice chimed.

Allie stepped forward from the shadows.

"My, my." She sneered. "Honestly, I expected it to be… bigger. Better. Something more than… this awful thing you call a _throne room_." From the hunters, she heard a cry of indignation.

She turned to the group and sent the blonde architect the most hate filled glare she possibly could. It wasn't hard.

Damien emerged next. His powerful build drew many longing looks from the majority of the female population. Allie noticed and angrily scooted closer so that their shoulders were touching. She didn't like this… weird feeling. It was pressing on her chest like one of those giant metal disks she had clipped to her belt.

He took her hand reassuringly and she grinned at him. _This isn't as bad as I thought it would be_ , she sent through telepathy.

 _I agree._ He answered, rolling his eyes.

Artemis looked curiously at the newcomers.

She could easily understand that one was female and the other was male, however she couldn't see their faces at all. It was like a mist, shrouding their appearance. It weaved in and out looking light and gentle but at the same time giving a warning.

Artemis felt familiar with both of them, even the male, which was an enigma in itself. She'd watch those two carefully, she decided.

Meanwhile Allie and Damien were having a silent conversation. The campers looked at them as if they were insane as they suddenly broke into laughter at the exact same time.

Allie looked at the crowd trying to spot familiar faces, and suddenly whirled around, remembering Thalia. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she saw her hanging at the back of the hunters with an expressionless look on their faces.

Allie gave Damien a nudge and motioned with her eyes at them. His eyes started to get teary too as he watched how she conversed with only a few other hunters. The sight of Annabeth made him shudder and Allie wrapped her arms around him to comfort him.

 _It's ok,_ she sent. _I swear to Chaos you won't have to go with the hunt._

Damien relaxed slightly and she hugged him a bit tighter.

 _Thanks._

 _No problem Trident Face._

He smiled.

" _Attention!_ " Lady Chaos called.

Immediately, everyone stopped talking about the newcomers and turned to face someone, who apparently, was superior to Zeus.

"I would like to introduce two people who I see as my son and daughter. Please welcome my apprentices, Atalanta Chaos," She motioned to Allie with her hand, "And Damien Chaos. They are two people who can match me strike for strike in battle and have spent many, many centuries training with my most trusted confidants and warriors. They are also my future heirs for when I pass, as all things must."

Everyone's eyes seemed to widen. Damien took a bow and Allie followed his lead.

"Attention hog," she muttered to him.

He just smirked.

Lady Chaos smiled. "These two will be your main line of defence," she said. "One of them will be assigned to the hunters, and another to the Amazons, because they are the smallest groups." There was a large range of protest, especially from Camp Half-Blood.

"Damien and Atalanta represent my planet - the most powerful one. It is called Merioupia. However, there are three more planets, and other skilled fighters that are in my elite circle."

She waved them forward.

"First, I would like to introduce the Guardians of Earth itself, far more superior that the gods," she added, ignoring the petulant anger on Zeus's face.

"This is Daniel and Drake, and they will be assigned to Camp Half-Blood." They looked at one another and shrugged, but Drake looked slightly nervous.

He walked up and whispered into Chaos's ear, and in a second, she relented.

"Joining them will be Alina, the only current Guardian of Neptune." Alina smiled brightly, and went over to stand beside her boyfriend and his brother.

"For Camp Jupiter, I am sending the Guardians of Vulcan: Sapphire and Charlie, as well as Jupiter's Guardians, August and Vienna." Lady Chaos informed them. Charlie smiled gratefully at Chaos, hugging Alina to his chest. She giggled, tickling him back.

Vienna offered August a fistbump, and he ignored it and rammed her in the shoulder. She flew ten feet, and every demigod looked at him in fear. A second later, Vienna slammed back into him, sending him flying twenty. She walked up to him, smirking, and offered him a hand up. Sighing, he took it.

Ignoring them, Chaos continued, "All the non hunters and campers are reporting for duty to protect camp Half-Blood." The mumbling subsided. "I will be providing one hundred of my soldiers and fifty trainers/front line troops to Camp Half-Blood. The rest of the groups will have fifty soldiers and an apprentice."

Artemis felt she had to interrupt. "But how are we supposed to train our groups if the Hunters and Amazons do not have trainers?" Lady Chaos gave her a motherly smile.

"I assure you, Allie, er, I mean Atalanta and Damien are worth more than three hundred of my trainers. Your hunters will be fine, Moonflower, I promise."

Artemis nodded her head in acceptance and stepped back. "Thank you Grandmamma, that is all I ask."

The campers gasped. Lady Chaos was Artemis's grandma? What?

"You may choose between the apprentices," Chaos said, motioning to Amazon and the Hunters.

Almost immediately there was a response.

"We want the girl!" Both parties yelled at once.

Damien's jaw dropped so low it looked almost comical.

"I feel so loved," he said sarcastically before being whisked away by Chaos. Allie laughed silently. She gave Artemis a bright smile and the goddess returned it with curiosity, not quite sure why the apprentice was grinning at her.

The hunters were looking at her with growing respect while shooting death-glares at Damien as if he was the equivalent of dung. The Amazons were yelling so loudly that Allie thought her eardrums had popped.

Reyna, she recognised suddenly, the trademark braid coming back to her. She still had the cape of the first cohort, and Allie tensed as she saw the blond boy behind her.

 _J-jason..._

Allie could barely think. A cold claw had settled in her stomach and suddenly it didn't seem like such an adventure anymore.

"Okay!" Chaos interrupted. The noise died down. "Allie is going with the hunters," There was a collective moan from the Amazons. "And Damien is going with you guys," she said, pointedly looking at the female group leader.

Hylla looked annoyed, and gave Damien a suspicious glance.

 _This is gonna be hell,_ he thought to Allie.

 _At least you don't have to see Annabeth Bitch Chase. Should we call her ABC from now on?_

Damien rolled his eyes. _Sure Allie. If you want to, I'm fine with it._

 _Let's get this show on the road,_ She thought glumly. _See ya, Trident Face._

 _See ya, Als._

 **\- Linbreak -**

 **Please Review! Thank you for reading this far! I appreciate you guys soo much!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, and if I did, I would be on a fluffy unicorn high.**

Allie had spent the rest of the night in a silver tent, promising to start the Hunters' training the next day. They all seemed pretty excited about training and learning new techniques, so she was certain they would be able to work together smoothly. Well, bar a certain blonde haired, grey eyed daughter of Athena.

At the beginning, Allie didn't quite know what to do, so she had asked the hunters to line to introduce themselves.

The hunters formed a line, from the oldest to youngest in terms of time of the hunt.

Phoebe was first.

"Hi." She said turning her lips up in what might have been a grin. "I'm Phoebe." Allie smiled kindly at her and shook her hand.

"You're older than me, you know," she said. Phoebe looked a little surprised but then smirked. She was almost bulky and reminded Allie of one of the campers she had once fought with, Clarisse. Instead of mousy brown hair, hers was slightly darker.

"Morning," The next girl chirped cheerfully. "I'm Christy!" She looked about eight years old, but if she was in the front of the line, she had to be about two thousand. Allie greeted her with a smile and a handshake.

She had black hair and it was put into a small bun on the side of her head. She had a pudgy panda like face and it was obvious she was the most positive person in the hunt. Allie had to fight the urge to give her a hug.

"Guys, since I'd rather not say this a lot, I'll just say it now. My name is Allie. No last name, no fancy abbreviations. Please don't call me Atalanta," she winced. "That's just a front. Thank you." She referred to the entire hunt as well as Artemis.

"你好," The next girl said.

Allie frowned. "你为社么可以说中文？" She asked her. The girl just smirked at her.

"What's that? Sorry, I don't speak Chinese." She said.

"But you just did…" muttered Allie, who was utterly confused.

"Well yeah. But only because everyone was just saying 'hi' or 'hello' so I wanted to do something different just for the sake of it." Allie laughed at her logic.

"That's a fun way of seeing it," she chuckled. "What's your name?"

"Elizabeth," she said pouting. "From the Victorian era. They had such sucky names back then." She had fluffy brown hair that ran in ringlets down to her neckline.

She was wearing the normal hunters outfit, but had added some of her own flair. She had pierced ears and small black studs in them. Even though Allie knew she wasn't here to socialize, she knew a potential friend when she saw one.

The next girl was a little taller, maybe thirteen? "Hello," she said solemnly.

Allie smiled, "Um, hey."

"I'm Clarissa, but you can call me Claire." She continued. "And I like pink." Allie blinked at the extra information.

 _Okay…_ She thought.

The girl was really pretty and Allie thought she was a daughter of Aphrodite at first. She had honey blonde hair and green eyes. Claire blinked and they turned slightly duller and stormy. _Daughter of Athena_ , Allie thought, having an 'aha moment' in her head.

She tried not to think of her half sister as she stared at her. She gave Claire a brief smile before moving on.

She went on to the next girl who was a little taller.

"Hi," the girl said, smiling. "I'm Katherine, but do not, for the love of muffins, call me that." Allie raised an eyebrow and cracked a smile.

She had long brown hair that was slung up in a high ponytail. She held herself close to Clarissa and the girl to her left, which led Allie to assume they were good friends. She was friendly but looked tense as if she didn't really trust the people of Merioupia. Allie couldn't blame her.

"Um, what should I call you then?" Allie asked, the atmosphere a little uncomfortable.

The girl gave her a reassuring smile. "Katie, Kate or Kat. Any of those is fine. Everyone calls me Kat anyway." She responded, pouting slightly, and hitting Claire with her ponytail, causing Claire to splutter through a mouthful of hair. Allie nodded her consent, stifling a laugh.

"That's not fair!" Claire responded indignantly. "You're hair's longer than mine!" Kat just laughed at Claire's attempts to hit her back.

Allie giggled and Kat genuinely smiled for the first time.

Kat stuck her tongue out at Allie and she returned the gesture. She felt like she was starting to warm up to them.

The next girl looked about the same age.

"Hello." She said all serious like. Allie smiled uncertainly.

"Um… Hi." Kat nudged her, shooting her an exasperated glance and a grin.

"Come on Viv." Kat said, poking her playfully. "She's nice."

"Okay, sorry for creeping you out." The girl amended. "I'm Vivian." The girl grinned sheepishly and Allie sighed in relief. Vivian had medium long hair in the same shade as Kat's. She had styled it in a hasty ponytail and braided it down the side.

"No problem. I like your hair, by the way." Allie shook her hand and went to the next person.

"Diana," The next girl interrupted before she could even ask.

Allie nodded and gave her a smile. She had black hair and had braided it into two braids. She looked like those girls in the Chinese TV shows. Diana grinned up at her. She can't have been more than nine years old. She patted Diana's hair down out of habit.

Allie approached the last person she didn't know.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Kirsten."

"Nice to meet you," Allie replied. She shook Kirsten's hand and gave her a grin. "You're dad's Apollo, right?"

Kirsten looked at her in surprise as if she didn't expect Allie to recognize her heritage. Then she brightened and gave her a blinding smile.

 _Yup,_ Allie thought wincing. _Definitely Apollo._

Kirsten had pure blonde hair that looked like it'd been spun from gold. She just kept smiling at Allie.

"It's nice to meet you," Allie said awkwardly.

She moved on to the next person.

"Hello," Thalia said formally. She attempted a smile, but it came out tired and brittle. Her voice seemed barren and empty and it tore at Allie's heart.

"Nice to meet you." She didn't sound like she meant it. Her hair was the same as always, spiky and sticking up in random places. But her eyes were different. They were broken.

Before so full of life and happiness, were now a dull blue, as if too worn out to get the sparkle they had once possessed. Her body no longer had the strength to hold herself properly and she was missing the pride that used to will her to stand tall.

Allie's eyes watered slightly as she stared at one of her greatest friends.

"Nice to meet you, Thalia." She replied warmly, but her voice cracked slightly. She hadn't even noticed she'd messed up.

Thalia reacted so fast Allie almost thought she was expecting it. Her head turned to Allie's as if electrified in her direction and the tired eyes that had been avoiding her gaze snapped up and assessed her. Thalia stared at her as if trying to place where she knew her.

 _The hood should reveal nothing,_ Allie thought, trying to reassure herself. _I designed it myself, it shouldn't..._

Thalia obviously wasn't satisfied with her judgment. In a second, she had Allie pinned on the ground, glaring daggers at her, but never raised her voice.

"I didn't even give you my name." She said quietly, with a hint of challenge.

Allie froze, finally realizing why Thalia had reacted so strongly. She thought of different ways to escape, but she didn't want to risk injuring or offending her friend.

"Um…" Allie tried to think of a good excuse. "I-I can find all of your names by your birth certificates!" She squeaked triumphantly, finally coming up with something.

It wasn't exactly a lie.

" _Thalia_ ," said Artemis firmly, using her godly senses. "She's telling the truth. Let her up."

Thalia grudgingly let her go, but her face was laden with suspicion. Allie stood up in relief, brushing herself off.

"So you mean we _didn't_ have to do this whole stupid introduction thing?" An annoyed voice called out at the very end of the line. Thalia's frown deepened, her brow furrowing. Allie turned to face the person, a person that she very much wished to strangle.

"Daughter of Athena," Allie began, and she straightened and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "You should know your place. Get back in line."

Annabeth Chase frowned, but stepped back anyway, as if determined to find out what she had done wrong.

"Anyways," Allie carried on.

She turned to the next girl. "Who are you?" She asked gently.

"I'm Jess," she said shyly. "Nice to meet you, um miss."

Allie quickly shook her head. "None of that please. Call me Allie."

She nodded worriedly. "Okay, sorry." She looked back at her toes.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," she said softly. "I didn't mean to intimidate you."

Her eyes widened. "No! You didn't. It's just… um… Artemis has told us so many things about her grandmother. We always thought she was talking about the titans, but we didn't know she meant Lady Chaos. For her to choose you as her apprentice, well, you must be really special."

Allie blushed to the tips of her toes.

"I'm flattered that you think that highly of me," she said, "but really, I'm just a girl. I've just had a whole lot of training."

"Well, thanks for agreeing to protect us," Jess pressed on, determined to award Allie with something.

"Oh, thank you," Allie accepted it reluctantly, unwilling to get credit for something as simple as guarding someone.

She quickly moved on, before she tripped over her own feet or did something else just as stupid.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." She held out her hand as if expecting Allie to touch it. Allie nodded and moved on without a word, barely acknowledging her. That was actually rather nice of her, because Allie was about to spit in her face when she first saw her.

She stepped in front of Allie as she ignored her, shock etched into her face. Her expression had a sense of anger at being brushed away. Allie rolled her eyes as she met Annabeth's stormy gray ones. She was obviously trying to stare Allie down. And obviously failing.

 _Was that actually supposed to be intimidating?_ Allie asked herself. _Probably not._

"Can you move?" Allie asked her rudely.

She crossed her arms. "Not until you tell me why you hate me."

 _Don't kill her_ , Allie chanted repeatedly as she thought of the most moral inducing things she could think of. _Do not kill the idiot._

"Well?" Annabeth demanded.

 _Do. Not. Kill. Her._ Allie clenched her fists and had to physically restrain herself from reaching for Katoptris.

"It's just funny," she said fiercely, "how naive everyone on earth is."

 _Do not kill her._

"Naive?" Annabeth scoffed. "We've been through just as many wars as you have."

 _Do not kill her._

"Not about wars," Allie hissed, feeling herself starting to lose control. "About you."

 _How you're an egotistical, self-centered brat._

Annabeth snorted. "About _me_? I'm a Heroine of Olympus, and the architect. What else is there to know?"

 _Do not kill - hell. You better shut your mouth, Annabeth._

"What else is there to know?" Allie demanded. " _What else is there to know?_ "

"Everyone knows!" Allie almost snarled.

She looked confused. "Knows what?"

Allie scoffed, feeling the rage erupt. "That you betrayed the _twice_ savior of Olympus, who, may I add was the kindest, sweetest and most loyal male. _Ever_. And then you let him die, after he lept into Tartarus. And for _you,_ no less!"

"What is wrong with you?" Allie spat, turning away in disgust. "You think everyone holds you in some sort of… amazed glory. You are _so_ mistaken. Ever since I've been in training, one of the most hated people everyone talks about is you."

Annabeth looked away, her face burning. None of her sisters came to her rescue.

"And you killed so many!" Allie cried, tears gathering. She was suddenly glad the hood shadowed her entire face. "You killed H-Haz..." She couldn't finish.

"The things you've done is… just vile. And people still believe you're on the _good side_. You're so lucky to be alive. If I and me friends had my way, you'd be - " She muted the conversation so that nobody could hear them but Annabeth.

"You'd be a corpse on the floor, Annabeth," she winced as if the name was a foul word in her mouth. "You and all the traitors of Camp Half-Blood. Chaos has half a mind to kill you herself for what you did to u - " Allie cut herself off.

"Them. What you did to the Heroes of Olympus. _You_ certainly don't deserve that title." She turned away from Annabeth, and turned to the only person she trusted in the group.

"Thalia. You asked why I knew your name, and honestly? I was looking you up. You're famous for standing up to the gods, even when everyone abandoned you. I'm sorry," she said softly.

Thalia looked at her sadly, refusing to meet her eyes.

"Fame doesn't bring them back," she said, dully. She walked away, refusing to look at them.

Allie felt a part of her heart break.

"Just… just stay away from me," she told the blonde girl on the floor, not wanting to see her. It was so hard, even after everything she'd done, for Allie to think of Annabeth as the enemy.

Allie stalked briskly into the large tent she had assembled.

\- Linebreak -

"Allie!" A loud voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"What do we do now?" Jess looked up at her innocently. Allie almost couldn't believe she was older than Annabeth, and therefore, her.

She gestured to the knife she was holding.

"There are a lot of different types of grips, and they all have their benefits. Personally, I prefer the Icepick grip. When you're grappling, having the knife pointed to the enemy is normally a good idea. However..." She began to explain how it was more productive when someone was fighting close range.

"That's wrong." Annabeth said bluntly.

Allie raised an eyebrow and turned to face her. "How am I wrong?"

"An Icepick grip is for beginners. Only a real idiot would use it," she said defiantly.

Allie snorted. "If I'm an idiot, what does that make you?" She raised her hand and set it ablaze. "If you were a real daughter of Athena, you would use that survival instinct you call a brain and _stop pissing me off._ "

Thalia gave an almost invisible chuckle.

"Well said," she smirked. "I should have recorded that for Nico."

Annabeth's cheeks flamed, but she seemed to bite her tongue. She huffed angrily and turned away, grimacing as she brought out a book.

 _If you don't want to learn, fine,_ Allie thought, not finding a real sense of loss.

"Okay," she elaborated. "So, you're fighting in close quarters. You're opponent expects you to go defensive, seeing as you only have a knife. But if you roll," she demonstrated it quite clearly, landing right next to Jess's foot, "you can cut their foot clean off."

Most of the girls were nodding slowly, but a few looked skeptical.

"This is for last defence situations," Allie said grimly. "Also, if you can't manage to get through the bone, there's a major artery in the heel. You want to stab it as hard as you can, they shouldn't be able to fight for a while if they're unbalanced."

She analysed the girls, noting their general structure and weaponry.

"I would actually recommend a sword grip for Jess, Claire, Kat and Vivian. You guys have less muscle in your lower arms, and if you use Icepick, it would be easy for the enemy to twist your knife and cut through your hand." The rest of the girls looked worried at that.

"It's a trade, really," Allie said, shrugging. "You can decide. With Icepick, it's easier to maneuver your knife and also easier to aim. However, it's at the cost of vulnerability for your wrist. With the sword grip, or as people on earth call it, hammer grip, it is indefinately safer but you have a less likely chance of hitting your target."

Allie pointed to a pole, twenty meters away.

"I want you all to be able to do this by the end of the day," she said firmly. "Observe." She drew back her arm and threw the knife, embedding it straight into the pole and hitting it with such force that it was wrenched straight out of the ground.

They stared at her incredulously.

"Just be able to hit the target," Allie said sheepishly. "Not the whole… flying thing."

The next few months were uneventful. There was the regular training, trying to explain to a puzzled Kat why she didn't eat meat, and the regular mental banter with her friends.

Allie steadily grew closer with the hunters as well, especially little Jess. The trio, Claire, Kat and Vivian were just a laugh. It was so strange how such opposite personalities could be the best of friends. Kirsten and Diana were amusing, but also impressive fighters.

Overall, Allie was rather proud of how far they had gotten. Their progress almost rivaled her own, and those Annabeth's pride prevented her from joining in, Allie could tell she really wanted to learn.

When Annabeth finally gave way, Allie swore to herself that she wouldn't treat Annabeth any differently than she treated the others.

Even though training wasn't easy, Allie couldn't help but grow tired of the same old routine. Everyday was a pattern, just another hour of going through the motions. It was so different from her previously life, that sometimes she felt as if she would explode with pent up energy.

While she hated the battlefield, it was where she felt the most productive. It was almost a relief when she finally got news of some action.

\- Linebreak -

A buzzing sound shocked her awake.

"Allie!" The voice came from her watch. Allie yawned sleepily.

"Whazzit?" She asked drowsily.

"Allie? Get up! They're attacking! Get the hell up!" Allie shot up, suddenly panicking. Reality set in and Allie instantly switched into battle mode. She checked her watch and realized that there were several voicemail messages left from her friends.

 _Shit._

"Allie are you fucking serious? Get up! We need help! Damien's fighting, so far the hunters are the only ones not being attacked."

Allie jumped up, already reaching for Katoptris.

"Got it Alina," she said grimly. Allie hoisted herself up with the bars she had installed at the top of her makeshift bed. She hung by her feet as she swung back and forth gathering her supplies. Bullets. Rifle. Knives. Sword.

Allie quickly slid Katoptris back into her boot, cursing as she wondered if the hunters _were_ being attacked and she had been too blind to notice.

 _Chaos is going to have my hide._

"Hunters!" She hollered. "Up! Get your weapons!"

She ran out in the clearing, creating a bubble around herself in case she was surrounded. She let it drop as soon as the sleepy hunters emerged from their tents.

 _While the hunters are incredible by earth standards, they're no match of Order's monsters,_ she analysed. Allie bit her lip, wondering if bringing them into battle was worth the risk.

"Weapons," she barked, hoping her instinct was right, "Now! Camp Half-Blood needs our help!" Artemis's silver eyes met hers.

"A fight?" She questioned.

"They need back up," Allie responded simply. She tossed her a gun, and showed her how it could latch onto the hunter uniform.

"I want everyone with one of these," she said loudly, making everyone jump. She started handing them out to everyone.

"Not hard. Load, aim, shoot." Allie looked grim, tapping each girl's head with one finger, and letting them have a bit of her Jupiter accuracy.

"You won't miss," she promised. "Get the arrows out, you'll need those too. When you run out, use the gun," Allie said clearly.

"Order will have shields, ones only the Guardians can bypass. The fact that we were the only ones not attacked means that he'll be expecting us. It could be a trap. If you don't want to go, just say the word."

She looked directly at little Jess as she spoke, half hoping the girl would take the easy way out. Jess raised her head and stared back with surprising determination.

"Are we ready?" All the girls nodded. Even Thalia looked as if she had a little of her spark back in her. The silver ringlet seemed to shine and signify she was the Lieutenant.

"Thalia, hold onto my shoulder." She did so. "Artemis, my other shoulder." The goddess complied.

"Girls, please try to latch onto my arms or legs. Two can go around my stomach. I can't break through the shield twice, it would be a pointless drain of energy. Make sure you're touching me and don't let go." Allie felt the arms tighten around her.

She blinked slowly, already feeling the shield from a hundred miles away. Spikes of pain made themselves known as she tried to contact her friends.

 _I guess no telepathy for now,_ Allie thought. _I'm just glad they managed to get the watch signal through the shield._

"Ready?" She asked through gritted teeth. There was a chorus of agreement.

Allie punctured the barrier with her mind, feeling the resistance it put up _. Alina needs my help,_ Allie thought determinedly. _I'm coming, keep fighting._

She felt it finally collapse, and the fire was all around her. At first she thought her teleportation had gone wrong, but then she realized that the fire was coming from in front of her.

"Camp Half-Blood," Artemis breathed in horror, watching the flames rise higher and higher.

Allie took a breath, summoning the water like she'd practiced. It started to rain, and the fires slowly started to extinguish.

 _It's not fast enough_ , she realized. She continued to sweep the fires with rainwater, but after a few seconds they seemed to not be affected by the water at all. The flames licked the cabins greedily and the campers screamed, running rapidly from the scene.

 _This isn't regular fire._

Allie moaned. _Of course it's not regular fire, you idiot. This is Order we're fighting._

Allie studied the fire. Since the water had appeared to take an effect, she assumed the fire had developed an immunity for that particular substance. If she could find a different liquid…

 _Salt water,_ she thought immediately. _Where's Trident Face when you need him?_

Raising her hands, she extended them, imagining that there were hands on the beach too. They gathered water, and Allie raised hers high above her head. The avatar copied her movements.

She twirled her fingers in a sweeping motion, and wind whipped everyone's head back. Allie allowed the air pressure to support her as she continued to add to the tornado. She forced the earth based elements back down and filtered the substances carefully.

The inferno of salt water gradually grew in size, and she hovered above it, using the wind to suck in the objects that were burning, extinguishing them instantly and not giving them the time to adapt.

Order's subjects retreated in horror, obviously not been told about this happening.

Allie forced the whirlwind to dance, separating the enemies from her friends and making them go on two different sides. Finally, she released the water, watching satisfied as the Order's army thrashed in the waves as they headed back to sea.

"Alina!" She called, looking for her friend. She rushed through the sea of campers, fighting the urge to apologise as she knocked a boy down in her haste.

 _These are the campers. We hate the campers,_ she reminded herself.

She flew a couple of feet, closing her eyes and trying to sense her friend's aura. Northwest, fifteen meters. She took off, still yelling her name.

Alina appeared in a flash of water, looking flushed.

"Thank Chaos, Allie," She responded, rushing up and hugging her. "We were almost overwhelmed. But you have to go. There's still Camp Jupiter!"

Allie closed her eyes. _Please be alright._

She saluted to her friend as the twins approached. They were slightly scorched, but looked fine. She did a quick mental scan, confirming there were no permanent injuries. Alina had a cut on her neck, and Dan had a slight limp. Nothing unfixable.

"Watch the hunters," Allie ordered simply, as she disappeared in another burst of flame.

Instantly, Allie felt a weight press against her mental shields. It wasn't a simple pressure, as it had been before. It was an intrusion, forcing it's way into her thoughts, into her memories.

 _Get out. Get out of my head._

She forced herself to ignore the warning signals, and let the machine see the basic details of her life. It was her defence. Then she attacked, diving into the shield's own barriers.

Finally managing to diffuse the shield, she prayed that it hadn't seen anything worth Order's time. The smoke finally cleared and her teleportation finished, letting her land in the grass. She thanked her Commander that she had made it through that. If it had gotten to it, she would rather have died than let Order see her thoughts.

"Omph," she coughed, charging through the ruins. "Saph! August?"

Nobody answered her. All she could hear was the clanging of metal on metal, and the yells and shouts of battle. She charged forward, already summoning a portion of Order's army.

She used the water element to entrap them, and left them struggling helplessly in a droplet. She smirked maliciously and lit a fire beneath them, watching the water slowly evaporate. That was a quarter of the monsters she didn't need to worry about.

Allie glided closer to get an aerial view. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to distinguish between her enemies and her allies. She dived, hitting the ground with what felt like a small earthquake, but rocked everyone several meters back from where she landed.

Moving fast, she emerged in hyperspeed, refusing to let anyone see where she would attack from. She loaded a couple of bullets from her belt and fired: catching a monster in the lung.

 _He won't make it,_ she deducted, already spinning around.

Allie sucked the moisture out of the nearest monster to her. The empousa choked, holding her stomach. The demigod fighting looked in awe as she died. Allie refused to even talk to him, moving on and beheading another one.

Within five minutes, the battle had come to a standstill. The path of wreckage clearly pointed from the creator she had landed in to where she was still demolishing monsters. Allie reached out again and turned five monsters to stone, forcing their molecules to harden and solidify.

She then compressed another monster's lungs, watching in disgust as he crumpled, coughing up blood. Allie thrust Katoptris into a hellhound, severing its spine painlessly. It dropped to the ground.

Suddenly, a realization hit her. She felt appalled as she recognised what she was doing.

 _I'm killing one at a time?_ she thought to herself. _This isn't training, or one on one. People are dying and I'm sitting here practicing handling my powers._

Allie walked calmly through the crowd, feeling through the auras of the people surrounding her. Instantly, ice crept up through Order's army. Allie felt the water inside each being, and froze it cruelly. Jagged icicles punctured through organs, and she could feel their agony. Every step she took she could feel the knives in her own skin, and the pain in her heart was as heavy as ever.

She kept walking. Bodies dropped to the floor, and the power she channeled caused her eyes to glow blue. Allies and enemies alike backed away as she held her hands up threateningly.

 _Sapphire? Where are you?_ She broadcasted through the airways. _Can you see me? Are you hurt?_

 _Allie? Thanks a bunch! The monsters seem to really be thinning out. I should've guessed you arrived. Have you seen Damien?_ She asked.

 _I thought he was with you,_ she replied worriedly. _He's not at Camp Half-Blood either. The attack on the Amazons must have been really tough._

 _Alright. I'm just finishing some off with Vi. I'll meet you by the Jupiter statue in the center of the clearing. That alright?_ Sapphire confirmed.

 _Be right there_ , she responded immediately. Allie changed her route, feeling the path grow as she approached. She pushed the bodies out of the way and channeled her wind powers, teleporting herself a few feet at a time so she could reach the statue faster.

When she had finished off the last of them, she flew the last couple of yards to the meeting point.

"Saph!" She cried, throwing her arms around her sister. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sapphire responded affectionately. "I contacted the rest. They should be here in about..." She looked at her watch. "Now?"

Charlie appeared in front of her, looking surprised. His face was almost black and he grimaced, feeling the soot on his face.

"I really need to learn how to use the fire teleportation without getting burnt," he said grumpily, rubbing the back of his scorched hair. August just laughed at his expression.

"I don't understand it," he chuckled. "You can create an ocean of fire out of midair but you still haven't mastered teleportation."

Vi rolled her eyes. Her hair was slung in its normal ponytail, but she had dropped her trademark hunter's outfit in fear someone would recognise her.

" _Boys,"_ was all she said, as if that word explained everything wrong with the world. Allie just grinned and drew them in for a hug.

"Do you guys know where Damien is?" Allie asked after a second.

"No," Vienna admitted. "Haven't you?"

"No..." Allie confirmed, feeling her heart start to beat frantically. "Have _any_ of you see him?"

They all shook their heads in a negative, and Allie repeatedly cursed herself for getting caught up in the battle. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"Right," Allie said composedly, feeling some control return to her. "I want August, Vi, Sapphire gathering enough power to teleport the campers of Camp Jupiter to Camp Half-Blood."

"But - " Vienna began to protest, but Allie cut her off.

"But nothing. We are getting there, and it's easier to protect demigods when they are close together," she explained. "Please, just start gathering power. It should be enough in about three minutes."

Vi eventually nodded, and Sapphire lead her and August to follow her to find a flat landscape where they could start.

"Charlie, with me," Allie ordered. They walked a few meters away from the demigods, who were still looking at them with curiosity.

"We need to know where the Amazons are right now. Like Artemis's hunters, they're cloaked. I already tried to reach him on my watch, and I got static." She said worriedly.

"He's not responding to my thoughts, and I'm out of ideas. The last resort is just to go in there and help, so I guess that's what we're going to do." Charlie looked dubious.

"So, I just find where the Amazons are?" He repeated. Allie nodded.

He got a wire out of his belt and attached it to her watch. A few sparks flew from it and he fiddled with the machine before connecting her watch to the wire.

"The last place we can locate them is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania," He said, looking alarmed. "He called for backup."

Allie forced herself not to lose her head.

"I didn't receive it," she said as calmly as she could manage. "Order probably blocked the signal. We need to get there urgently."

Charlie nodded, already teleporting over to Vi and helping add to the growing circlet of energy. It gleamed in the sunlight, and Allie quickly yelled to get their attention.

"Campers!" She snapped. "Get in the ring. It'll teleport you to Camp Half-Blood." A bushy haired boy crossed his arms, looking annoyed.

"No offence Lady, but who died and made you leader?" He asked rudely.

 _Clearly he's new_ , Allie thought in disgust.

"I don't have time for this," Allie snarled. "Get in the circle!" She blew the campers forcefully in the direction, and the other guardians helped her.

"Ready?" She asked August. He nodded, and Allie found the overload synchronizer in the energy and hooked it up with her mind. In a millisecond, she deactivated it and let the teleportation do it's work.

 _Thank Chaos,_ she thought as she felt the pull of the transporter.

Allie felt the breath knocked out of her as she fell to the ground. She stood up hastily, brushing herself off and mentally connecting herself and the other guardians in a conversation.

 _You guys there? - Als_

 _Oh, is this another group chat? - Saph_

 _Allie, tell them about Damien - Charlie_

 _Okay, I hope everyone's listening then. Guys, something's happening with Damien. He sent an alert a couple of hours ago, but it didn't show on my watch. This has Order written all over it. If he can stop messages, he can damn well read them. Don't give away anything, not even by thought. Get your shields up. I need three people to volunteer to go help Damien. - Als_

Immediately, there was a chorus of replies, and Allie had to forcefully prevent them from continuing. She gradually dimmed their access to the chat until it had completely disappeared from their minds.

 _Allie, I want to help but I don't think water is going to help in this situation. It's more of a healing property the most effective thing would be to use it to shield the campers - Alina_

 _Thank you. Anyone else who is mature enough to step down? - Als_

 _Fine. - Drake_

 _Me and Sapphire can stay behind - Charlie_

 _Hey! - Saph_

 _They don't need fire, wind will be more effective against Order - Charlie_

… _\- Saph_

 _I guess that settles it - Als_

 _Good luck guys - Alina_

 _Can we go rescue the Damien now? - Vi_

 _Alright, Vi, August, Dan, let's get going. - Als_

Allie took a few steps back, and analysed them. She took in their faces and wondered who she actually _was_ going to take.

"Guys," she said, "change of plans. August, Dan, you're not going."

August shot to his feet.

"What are you talking about? This is Damien! Of course I'm going." He looked at her in horror, as if he couldn't comprehend why she wouldn't let him help save one of his best friends. She narrowed her eyes, standing straighter.

"Were you listening to anything I said?" She hissed. " _Order can hear our conversations._ Obviously, now he thinks the attack team is mainly going to consist of the wind guardians and an earth one."

"Ohhh," Dan said. "Okay, I get it. Who is going?"

"Vienna is still going," Allie said firmly. "Well, it's either her or August. You two work it out." She turned, cocking her head to the side as she debated the benefits of each combination.

"Alina, you're the only person with natural healing powers. I can heal, but it would be better to have two on the battlefield," she explained. "Order thinks he has about twenty minutes and is preparing his defences to face a wind team. We need water to combat that."

Alina nodded. "Thank Chaos. It would go against all my morals to protect _them._ " She wrinkled her nose and refused to look at the old campers.

"I'm going," August announced after an intense game of rock paper scissors. Vi glowered but didn't challenge him.

"Cheater," she said coldly. August just ruffled her hair affectionately, and after a couple of seconds of head rubs, she gave a tiny smile.

"Charlie, you're going." Allie refused debate on this one. She knew that Charlie could handle himself, and wasn't certain she could watch two of her team at the same time. Alina wasn't so experienced in battle either.

"Okay, this way we have all the elements, including me. Ready guys?" She asked, holding her hands out. The three of them attached themselves to her arms.

"Yeah," August replied for all of them. "Let's go."

Allie nodded. "Help me break through the shield," she said urgently, right before they disappeared.

 _Wait, do you guys know what the plan is?_ Alina asked.

"We should use simple answers, half out loud and half mentally so Order doesn't understand what we're saying," Charlie said immediately before she could continue.

 _That makes sense_ \- Als

 _Done_ \- Au

"Guys, we're approaching the barrier," Allie warned, feeling the molecules in her body start to angle away from the shield.

"It's not as strong as the one around Camp Jupiter." August observed, sounding surprised. He sent a few more gusts of air at it to be sure.

"Weird." Allie bit her lip. "Order probably wants to save his effort for actually fighting, instead of shielding himself."

"That makes sense," Alina agreed. "I still don't know what the plan is though." Her tone had an implied question mark embedded inside it.

Allie thought for a while, already tearing down the base of the barrier with her mind. Figures of her friends appeared as well, and they all began helping her.

"Alina, you find Damien, and try to heal him. August, cover her. Since they'll be prepared for the wind element, it's going to be harder for you." She thought about it, only to shake her head fervently as she realized how pointless that would be.

"Actually, all three of you go find Damien," she amended. "I'll create shadows that look like the people we were supposed to bring and trick him into thinking we're all there."

Alina nodded in appreciation. "Good plan. One more thing though, try to make it look as if they abandon you halfway through, so you don't have to concentrate on controlling them anymore. Order will think you're on you're own."

"Smart," Allie said in amazement. "Now's the part where I wish I had your brain."

August rolled his eyes. "Clever Allie gone, weird Allie back." Allie whacked him on the back of the head and simultaneously finished tearing down the last part of the shield.

"Recap. I'm going to teleport us behind that shed, and you go find Damien." She said quietly. "Kill the people who recognise you, it's too risky to leave them. I'll make a loud fiery entrance with the supposed group, lead him on for a little, and then pretend to be devastated when they _abandon me_ ," Allie said, using quotation marks around the words.

"On three," she said. They teleported behind the rust, one of the only barriers on the edge of the battlefield. Allie could already see Hylla with her shield, and even Reyna, who had come to her sister's aid.

 _She must have snuck out when the battle at Camp Jupiter was over_ , Allie thought, a grudging respect growing for the daugher of Bellona.

"Go," she whispered, ushering her friends in the opposite direction. She quickly flashed herself away, making sure her entrance was unmissable.

An explosion of fire erupted from the spot, and Allie stepped out, writhed with flames. The earth beneath her split in a jagged symbol - Chaos's Phoenix.

"Where is Order?" She bellowed into the crowd of monsters, already starting to dispose of the front line. Allie refused to meet the gazes of the army. Seeing their pleading faces would weaken her resolve. She scanned the area, looking for where their leader would be.

She made two figures appear - and then abruptly disappear. Let Order think that the wind elementals made themselves invisible, she thought distractedly, concentrating on the third figure.

She pictured Dan's face and shape, and tried to mold the shadows into the best model she could. The nose was a bit off and the eyes were black instead of brown, but Allie was fairly sure Order didn't know them well enough to recognise that.

She took off, hacking everywhere as she extended Katoptris and sliced off a dozen heads at a time. Allie sucked all the moisture from a thousand bodies, turning it into a wave and drowning the other quarter of the monsters. A blast of fire signified the last few, as they fell to the floor with a thud.

 _Done._

Allie didn't want to see the corpses on the floor. She turned away from the scene, free to scan the area for Order's coordinates. Without the monsters blocking the signal, she could finally feel a small pull in the direction of the trees.

Not wanting to waste her energy, Allie only teleported halfway and walked the rest. Almost directly before she reached the trees, she decided to try to contact her best friend.

 _Damien?_ She thought hesitantly, wondering if he would be able to hear her now that there wasn't a shield separating them.

There was an immediate response.

 _Allie?_ Allie? _What are_ you _doing here?!_

 _Damien, thank Chaos! Did they find you?_

 _Get out of here! They've got all of us!_

 _What?!_

 _Allie, get out. Get. Out._

 _I can't! Where are you, I can help!_

 _You don't understand! It's a -_

He was cut off. Allie ran the last few meters and teleported across the clearing. Her heart wrenched as she saw her friends pinned up against the trees, the chains sinking into the ground and wrapped several times around the roots.

They were struggling in vain, their wrists bloody from when they had tried to escape. Damien looked the worst. His cheek was bruised and he had a large cut above his left eye. He was shaking his head desperately, but she ran over anyway, managing to stop most of the flow of blood.

"Your eye will get infected if I don't clean it," she muttered. "Do you want me to stand over there, or do you want to go blind?"

He didn't even blink, only craning his neck to something behind her. Allie slowly dabbed at his eye with her sleeve, disguising how she activated the blades on her bracelet. She spun around, simultaneously drawing Katoptris and loading her pistol.

Finally, she looked at the figure, and aimed.

Allie's heart dropped into her stomach, and her blood turned to ice. _No_ , she thought dizzily. The gun dropped out of her hand and fell silently on the forest floor.

 _No._

Order had finally managed to find someone. A person that they couldn't defeat, even if they tried. The girl smiled cruelly, wiping the dirt off her hands. She blew a kiss in Allie's direction.

"Miss me?" The girl asked. She was covered in red. Blood. It was all blood.

The girl was Hazel.


	9. Chapter 9

Allie heaved, struggling to keep her meal down. She could feel the blood oozing around her. It was on everything - the trees were covered in it. The stench was almost as nauseating as the girl in front of her.

"Haze," she managed before she retched again, holding her stomach. She reached a trembling hand out. It quivered desperately in the air, seeming to search for some sign they were still on the same side.

She emptied the contents of her stomach on the leafy floor. Hazel's eyes widened in disgust.

"Haze," she mimicked. "The only people who called me that were my friends." Her eyes swept the clearing, taking in the prisoners and she smiled again, satisfaction lingering in her gaze.

"We are your friends," Allie mumbled from the ground.

Her eyes widened, and something akin to rage flickered in her eyes. Her fists clenched and she took a menacing step towards Allie. Hazel backhanded her across the face.

"You're not my friends," she spat. "By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish you had died along with your traitor campers."

She flipped open a knife.

Allie felt her heart get wrenched out of her chest.

"What did Order do to you?" She whispered, discreetly struggling to find weapons on her person.

Fury twisted like a live wire along Hazel's golden eyes. They seemed to gleam in the moonlight.

"Nothing I won't regret," she hissed. "You're going to pay for what you did."

Hazel glowered, throwing her hands out. An avatar, the size of a mountain, slowly assembled from the earth. Boulders as hard as flint flew out of the cracks, forming a bigger version of what Allie had once practiced in the Arena.

Different gems fell to the floor, and Allie gaped in amazement at the blatant display of power. She crawled back until she was close to the prisoners, and tried to protect them as best she could.

"Damien, press it," Allie gasped as she attempted to stand up on shaky legs. "Press it!"

His tongue reached a few more centimeters, and he finally managed to scan his mouth on the button. There was a rush of air, and Damien collapsed, looking exhausted but triumphant. The tiny phoenix on his wrist faded.

Allie felt power surge into her and struggled to contain it. She could almost taste the wind as it swirled up inside of her. She trapped it, refusing to let it escape her grasp. The tide fought her, the water oozing between the cracks of her mental barriers, and the fire started to burn it's way out.

Allie concentrated, forcing herself to accept the foreign strength. Eventually, the resistance died down and she could feel the thrumming of the power in her fingertips.

 _Chaos help me._

Hazel got slowly to her feet, and her avatar moved with her. She towered above Allie by at least fifty feet, and she had to crane her neck to see it's diamond studded eyes.

Allie let Jupiter's power overwhelm her, letting it free and allowing it to encase her. She rose up in a raging gust and a dove appeared over her head, carrying a laurel in it's beak.

Hazel's eyes darkened.

"How dare you use that symbol?" she screamed, seeming to become electrified with rage. "How fucking dare you! Not after what you've done!"

Allie swatted away the white bird, annoyed that her own tattoo had appeared as a holograph. Hazel, looking incensed, tackled her to the ground. Allie quickly made the molecules in the wind avatar weightless and while she exposed herself, she was satisfied her giant was immune to Hazel's swinging fists.

 _I need to get them out of here,_ she thought worriedly. _I can't hurt Haze._

"You can't hurt me?" Hazel shrieked, reading her thoughts. "You act as if you haven't hurt me enough! Have you forgotten what you did to me?"

Allie shook her head, refusing to let tears fall. "Hazel, you're confused. Please come back with us, we can help you."

When Hazel laughed, Allie honestly considered the possibility she was insane.

"Come back with you?" She snarled. "That's the last thing I would possibly do. Clearly you don't know me as well as you thought."

"Please Haze," she pleaded, even as she ducked from the blow. "We won't hurt you. I don't know what Order did to you, but you have to come back. You're my sister!"

Hazel froze. "I had a sister," she said coldly. "And you killed her."

Fire emerged from her giant and she created a living, breathing serpent. It's fangs dripped with venom, and it's fiery scales gleamed brightly as it coiled around her foot.

"I killed nobody!" Allie denied vehemently, refusing to fight back. A pair of golden slits narrowed.

"Bite her slowly," Hazel ordered the snake, her eyes filled with grief. "Make it painful."

The cobra bared it's teeth, rearing back as it prepared to strike. It was about the size of her giant's arm, and it steadily enlarged itself. The twisted spikes on it's side fanned out as it lunged, and Allie immediately made her avatar impenetrable.

Allie twisted inside the air, struggling to breathe as she channeled the power incorrectly. A shield had encased her, but it had also blocked her vision and limited her air supply.

 _Calm breathing. Calm._

Allie took a breath, letting it out slowly and concentrated. Sure enough, the metal flickered and became transparent. The snake had grown even more, now towering over Hazel herself. She was yelling at it in a language Allie didn't understand.

When her metal casing had faltered, Allie charged, aiming to take out the avatar. She temporarily used the winds to sweep up the wind and sliced off one of the legs.

Hazel just smiled.

Rocks rose for the second time, reconstructing her avatar's leg. This time, diamonds rose, making a shield for the heart, chest, neck and spine. Allie's heart sank.

 _Gaea's starting to wake_ , she thought numbly. _She's aiding Hazel._

She backed away, going closer to her friends as Hazel drew a large sword, made out of the toughest gems of the earth. When Hazel swung, she abandoned her avatar and rolled, landing next to Alina.

She immediately controlled the water to collide with their chains, forcing it to freeze. The steel snapped like brittle and her friends were unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

Allie summoned them to her with the water in their bodies, and struggled to break the shield. Her fingers started to flame, and she knew the teleportation was working.

Allie blinked back the tears, as she saw Hazel struggling to mentally stop them.

 _My power is stronger than yours_ , she informed Hazel, knowing she would read her thoughts. _I would never hurt you. Come back with us._

Hazel screamed, finally breaking the connection. Allie severed any control Hazel had over the shield and it collapsed out of existence.

"Hazel please," she begged, one last time.

"I'll kill you," she replied, her voice cold. "You're life is mine."

The teleportation finally went through. Allie felt the flames incase her and the last thing she saw was Hazel's face flickering in the fire.

Allie couldn't get her sneer out of her mind. The hatred overwhelmed her. When the teleportation ended, Allie felt her bravado shatter. She dropped to her knees, clutching them to her chest.

She sobbed into the ground, not caring that the campers saw her. She couldn't care about anything. She didn't feel anything.

Shocked glances were sent her way, and Alina staggered to her feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and lead her over to Sapphire.

Her sister just embraced her, and quietly brought her over to the cabin they were currently staying in. Sapphire just let her cry as she gently pressed circles into Allie's back.

Allie held her face in her hands, unable to stop the trembling that wracked through her entire body. Her feet dangled over the bed, and Allie could see how pale she was.

"Hazel," Allie choked out. "Order has her." She leaned against the back of the bed and blew her nose noisily.

Sapphire shot to her feet. "Order has your friend? The one from Earth? Why didn't you say so? We'll go rescue her, be back by morning -"

Allie shook her head warily, the situation finally sinking in. "Order has her. He recruited her."

Sapphire froze. Her hands that had been so enthusiastically explaining the plan dropped uselessly to her side.

"But you… that Hazel girl, we talked about her..." She said, looking confused. "Why would she join _him?_ "

"I..." Allie couldn't think of a single reason. "I don't know. _I don't know,_ " she repeated feverishly. She kept silently crying, though she wanted nothing more than to scream into her pillow.

The door opened and Damien came into the room, his eyes red and watery. His steps were so defeated it was as if he was still shackled to the ground.

"We have to… get the campers. Safety," he said quietly, refusing to look at either one of them.

Allie stood up immediately, realizing her idiocy. She kept her steps brisk and confident, knowing that she wasn't the only one shaken by the events that had happened.

"Of course," she murmured, using the threat of an attack as a distraction for her grief.

Hastily wiping the tears off her face, she summoned a mirror and quickly vanished the blotchiness. A few stray hairs had fallen from her precise bun, and she put them up again before anyone noticed. She summoned water and scrubbed the blood off her skin.

"Okay." She said as firmly she could. She couldn't quite keep her voice from quivering. "We're going to stick to the plan. The same guardians will stay in the same camps. Is that okay with you?" She asked Damien.

He nodded, still avoiding her gaze.

"It's too much to hope for that Order does not have spies in the camps," Sapphire sighed. "He'd know in a day."

Allie took her hand. "This is where we go back to our groups. I hate to say it, but we're more vulnerable together than apart."

She held her face in her hands. "I don't know if I can face the camps, but I'll try. We'll see if they listen. They'll have to accept the authority eventually."

Allie brushed away her sister's offered hand and stood up, quickly pressing her mouth to the phoenix on her wrist.

Immediately, Allie sank back on the bed, and she cursed her stupidity for trying to stand up in the first place. Damien looked much better, now that his half of the magic had been restored.

Allie felt uncharacteristically weak, and she forced her limbs to move as she sluggishly headed for the door.

"Are you okay?" Sapphire asked cautiously.

"Absolutely perfect," she muttered back. She gave a small smile to show she didn't mean it in a cruel way.

Allie leaned against the door, too tired to force it open with her arms. It came loose, and Allie straightened as she walked firmly towards the campers.

"Right," Allie said, with slightly less bite in her voice. "Camp Half-Blood, get repairing. There is so much work to do, and it will help with your endurance."

"Camp Jupiter - line up here," Damien ordered. There was a clear separation line where the Greeks and Romans were.

They grudgingly complied, both catching on to what the leaders were saying. Damien created a small shield around the campers as well as the guardians guarding Camp Jupiter. Allie did the same, controlling a small bubble to appear over the hunters as well as Artemis.

 _See you later, guys._ She sent the message to them mentally and got a chorus of replies.

 _Bye Als -_ Damien

 _See ya_ \- Saph

 _Feel better -_ Vi

 _We can get ice cream later -_ August

Allie cut off the connection, feeling exhaustion seep through her. She barely had time to wonder if she had enough energy to teleport before the felt the water swirl up inside of her.

A small hurricane swept up around her and Allie felt a surge of relief. The cries of the hunters were horrified, as they clutched their stomachs in motion sickness. She ignored them, steering the hurricane back to the camp, and praying it was still in one piece.

They landed with a bone-jarring thud, and Allie rubbed her eyes blearily as she realized that the camp was still in pristine condition.

With the last of her strength, she created a shield that Order himself would have trouble breaking through. She spun, feeling the world collapse around her as she fell into unconsciousness.

\- Linebreak -

The bags under Allie's eyes grew over the weeks. The training sessions had gradually declined until Allie had been too exhausted to teach them at all.

"Tomorrow," she would mumble, taking care to reinforce the shield before she fell asleep. She had never kept that promise.

Allie kept herself in seclusion, refusing to speak with the other guardians. Thalia had yet to approach her, and Allie took that as a personal failure. She felt herself being dragged into a deeper and deeper hole every day.

Eventually, she had just settled for shooting at targets with her rifles, working herself as hard as she could without passing out.

On a cold day in February, Artemis had approached her, a grim look on her face.

"Allie," she greeted calmly. Her hands were clammy and clasped firmly behind her back.

"Lady Artemis," Allie said respectfully, moving the unused muscles in her mouth to form a smile.

"Good morning Allie," Artemis said heavily. "I just wanted to see… how you were doing."

Allie looked away, refusing to let her see the bitterness in her eyes.

"Is there anything you need?" She asked, wanting to take her anger out on the dummies in front of her.

"Yes, actually," Artemis said firmly. "I would like you to start training my hunters again." Allie felt her back slump, as she realized she had been neglecting her duties as guardian.

"I don't have time," she offered halfheartedly. "I have to train myself."

Artemis hesitated. "I may not have as much power as you do, but I have lived a _very_ long time. I suppose you can say I know how you feel."

 _You know nothing,_ Allie thought, her lips curling in a scowl.

"Lady Artemis, with all due respect, I _am_ very busy," Allie lied, resting her fingers on her knees.

Artemis straightened, and her eyes turned cold. "You may be busy, but you _will_ train my hunters." Allie tensed, feeling a snarl ready to erupt on her face.

"And why is that?" Allie asked, keeping her smile tightly secured. There was nothing that she felt less like doing.

"Because if you don't they will _die_ ," Artemis forcefully pounded her fist into the fence that Allie was sitting on. She couldn't help but jump at the furious look in Artemis's eyes.

Allie refused to meet her gaze and small bits of guilt seeped itself into her veins. She looked back on all the times the hunters had walked up to her and asked for an hour.

 _Just an hour,_ she thought feeling disgusted with herself. _I couldn't even spare that._

"They will die," Artemis repeated. "Simply because you refuse to see past yourself and train them. My sisters will all fall prey to Order's minions because you exhaust yourself training and don't look out for the little ones."

Artemis opened her mouth but Allie held up her hand, not letting her continue. "You're right," she said, feeling more determined that she had in the last few months.

"And it would be… wait, what?" Artemis said in surprise. "You will train them?" She looked absolutely confused, and Allie gave her a weak chuckle.

"Yes, Artemis. Thank you. Next time, just slap me in the face and get it over with." She pointed out. "I have a stupid problem with wallowing. Chaos usually does it."

"Oh," Artemis said sheepishly. "I suppose I could have just done that. I had prepared a speech and everything."

Allie didn't need to fake the laugh that bubbled it's way up her throat. She sheathed Katoptris, gathering all of her knives and shrinking them in her palm.

"Do you want me to start now?" Allie asked her, getting off of the fence and putting the bullets back in her belt.

"No," Artemis said gently. "You should have a good night's rest." She paused for a second. "I'll be watching the tent," she added firmly. "If you sneak out, you're going to have some very angry stags chasing you."

Allie laughed, "Duly noted."

She and Artemis walked back to the camp, exchanging small talk about weaponry and animals.

"Should I be concerned about the other animals in the woods?" Allie asked wryly.

"Perhaps," Artemis said mysteriously, a smile creeping it's way onto her face. "You really never know. I could be..." She darted out in front of Allie, " _Anywhere_."

Allie giggled, clutching a hand over her mouth in horror at the dreadful sound that had fled from it. Sapphire would have been proud.

"This will be a long week," she groaned, and Artemis put a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, they can be a handful," she agreed, "But it's like finding another family. It's worth it."

Allie smiled. "We'll see."

The next morning was a struggle. Allie had repeatedly smacked herself as she realized just how bad a role model she had been. The first thing she had done the night before was to call the guardians and apologize for being such a horrible friend.

They had all responded graciously and August had asked if everyone wanted to get some ice cream together. Allie had told him that she would when she had time, but was currently busy. She got some relief by realizing she _was_ going to be unavailable, and it could only do her and the hunters good.

Even so, Damien hadn't responded to the call. Allie felt a surge of guilt as she realized that in her hurricane of emotions, she hadn't considered how Damien felt. After all, Hazel was his friend too.

Allie couldn't help but wince at her appearance in the mirror. She hadn't combed her hair in a couple of days, and she was starting to see why brushes existed. She used some of the wind element to straighten it out, but it only seemed to make it worse.

Eventually, she resorted to using the normal method, taking about twenty minutes just to get the knots out. She quickly put on her training clothes, and ran out to the field. She didn't want to be late and make (another) bad impression.

The girls greeted her with smiles, seemingly happy that she had come out of her funk.

Allie felt annoyed with herself for losing so much time. _Damien's probably trained the Amazons by now,_ she thought glumly.

"Alright," she snapped, instantly going into Commander mode. "Swords out! I'm going to separate you into three categories. If you haven't used a sword before, left. Mediocre - middle. Experienced, go to the right. Understood?"

There were nods as the girls quickly moved into their designated groups. Allie smiled in satisfaction, knowing with certainty that Annabeth and Thalia were both in the experienced category.

"Meanwhile, find a partner and spar. I will start with the beginners because we have the most work to do," she said firmly.

She walked up to Elizabeth, Clarissa and Vivian, all who were looking at her curiously. Kirsten joined them a second later.

"Everyone's better than I expected," she said shyly.

Allie waved it off. "At least we have an even number now," she said. "Get with a partner. I just want to assess how well you can hold a sword."

After a few frustrating minutes, Allie attempted to explain how to hold the blade again. Allie groaned, wondering for the fifth time why she had agreed to train the hunters.

"Forget everything I said about a bouquet of flowers," Allie grimaced, rubbing her head in irritation. "Imagine that a sword is… let's say a large pointy stick. If you are holding a pointy stick, you don't want to hold it towards yourself, correct?"

Vivian facepalmed. "And thank you so much for treating us like two year olds."

Allie rolled her eyes. "Basically, don't hold the pointy stick close to yourself, or directly horizontal to the enemy."

Kirsten raised her hand. "Why not?" Allie resisted from banging her head against the wall.

"Because the flatter the blade is, the less surface area it protects you with. The enemy can dodge your defense and kill you in five seconds flat. You are all under the impression that Order's army are idiots. They are not idiots, unless you compare them to Order himself," she moaned.

"You want to hold it at about a 45 degree angle. This way you can keep up your protection, enabling you to react instantly if your opponent's attack with offensive tactics. Are we clear?"

" _Yes,_ " Claire said in exasperation. "Couldn't you have just said that in the first place? I mean, what was with the flowers? And the glowstick? And _why_ a penguin?"

Allie forced herself to smile. "Care to spar?" She asked sweetly, looking directly at Claire.

"Well," Vivian said wryly. "I suppose I do have that will of yours somewhere in my trunk." Claire sighed.

"I suppose I'm going to deserve this," she admitted. "Alright, I'm ready."

Allie analyzed the movement coming from the hunter, and she realized that her sword was twenty degrees too far down. Allie sighed to herself. This was going to be too easy. She charged, Claire's sword colliding with her own. A few twists later, and the blade was knocked gently out of Claire's hand.

"That," Allie announced, "Is what Order's army has done to me. They have learnt that technique, so you should be prepared to use it, and defend from it. Let me explain. It's a twist that goes around the opponent's hand and wraps around the tip of the sword, blunting the top." Four heads cocked to the side in confusion.

"I didn't do the whole move," Allie continued. "If we were in battle, the top of the sword would be much less dangerous, and would pretty much leave the weapon useless. That would prove to have a severe disadvantage. Furthermore, the rest of the move would be for me to twist your arm, causing your sword to sever your hand from your body."

"I'm sort of glad you didn't finish that move," Claire squeaked, looking more pale than ever.

"As much as I hate to say it, I would too," Vivian added shakily. "We are _way_ more behind than we thought."

Allie forced them to demonstrate the moves a few times on their partners, and corrected a few minimal errors. Finally deeming them acceptable, she told them to keep practicing and moved on to the next group.

"Morning," she said smiling.

"Good morning," Diana said cheerily. Kat and Elizabeth grinned along with her.

"Soo," Elizabeth chirped. "We've been sparring but there's three of us. That makes it a little complicated. We're both fighting Diana cause' she's the best out of all of us."

Kat nodded. "She really is. I think she should be in the advanced group but she doesn't want to."

Allie studied them. "If I think you're good enough, I'll place you in the higher group," she decided. "But for now, I just want to see you fight."

After only a few moments, she spotted the mistake. Kat was relying far too heavily on her sword, maneuvering it correctly but wielding it far too offensively to be effective.

"Kat," she interrupted quickly. "Do you play a sport? Like, I don't know, badminton?"

Kat looked confused, but nodded her head. "I played tennis a while ago," she replied. "Go to the courts sometimes to catch up. Don't want to forget it all."

 _That makes infinitely more sense,_ Allie thought to herself, feeling like an idiot. _Badminton? Really?_

"Alright. You're using the sword like a racquet, which is not correct at all. The muscles from your tennis are also useful though, you just have to use them in the right way," she said thoughtfully.

She walked up to Kat and took her sword, studying it carefully. "There's an indent where your thumb is," she noted. "Your hand should be further down, like this."

She demonstrated the grip, and added, "Were you any good at volleys?"

Kat's eyes lit up like a christmas tree. "I love them! There was this guy, caller Roger Federer, and he was like, sooo awesome and like - "

Allie inwardly sighed.

"Yeah, I know." She admitted. "He was pretty cool. However, that's not the main topic. So, instead of hitting the supposed "ball" like a baseline shot, try using a volleying grip when you're fighting. Imagine you're Federer and kill the shot."

Diana blinked a few times, digesting what she had said. "How do you know the Federer guy? Didn't he live a really long time ago?"

Allie forced herself to smile, and sent them a wink. "Earth is a lovely planet," she lied. "I visit sometimes." She cursed herself for slipping up.

"Alright," she announced loudly, afraid that they would catch on, no matter how little the clue. "Start sparring again. Kat, remember what I told you."

The girl nodded, twisting the grip as if it felt strange in her hand.

When they started to fight, Allie could immediately see the difference. Kat was more balanced and she was lighter, moving more on her tips of her toes as if she was actually playing the sport.

 _Maybe I should instruct the trainers to introduce tennis into the training regime,_ she thought, the idea amusing her.

Meanwhile, she studied Diana. While Diana was good, she wasn't near Phoebe's level. In her demigod days, Allie had faced Phoebe quite a few times and was impressed.

"Your sword is too low," Allie said after a few minutes. "I told the other girls that it needed to be at about a 45 degree angle. The same goes for you."

Diana quickly righted her blade. "Better?" She inquired curiously.

"Just a bit higher," Allie directed and Diana followed what she said. "That's great. Try to keep it like that while you fight. It's going to be hard at first but it'll get easier."

Diana nodded. "Thank you," she said.

Finally, Allie studied Elizabeth. The girl seemed to be progressing quickly, taking the other's criticisms as her own and adapting her style to fit Allie's requirements.

"Wow," Allie said, honestly surprised. "You're good. The sword is a little too high though, but that's about it. Just keep doing what you're doing."

She called Kirsten over.

"Can you show them the move I taught you?" She asked.

"Sure," Kirsten grinned excitedly. "Ooo, technically I moved up a group."

Allie rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. "Thanks Kirsten," she yelled, already walking up to the 'advanced' category.

An even number, she thought in satisfaction, looking at the four. Thalia, Jess, Annabeth and Phoebe looked at her expectantly as they sheathed their swords.

"Don't put away your weapons," Allie seethed, feeling an inexplicable surge of anger. It could have been from seeing Annabeth, but she felt a tinge of worry cloud her vision. _There's something wrong,_ she thought. A dark feeling seemed to overwhelm her mind.

She clutched her head, suddenly running for her tent. The rest of the girls looked at her in confusion as she started shaking rapidly.

Allie was just glad they didn't see her have a vision.

 _Not here,_ she pleaded. _Not now._

Whatever forces were causing the vision ignored her pleas, sucking her deeper in the depths of her living nightmare.

"P-please," she managed, before her head hit the floor.

Allie woke up inside a prison, shackled to a wall much like her friends had been. Her head was splitting itself apart and her skin, normally a deep brown seemed about as pale as it could get. Allie shuddered, forcing herself to keep her breakfast down.

She needed food, and she didn't know how long she was going to be there. A figure approached, the particles slowly forming together to create a pixelated image.

"Order," Allie hissed. "How are you doing this?"

He smiled, his teeth bared menacingly. "That's not important."

"It obviously is," Allie said spitefully, looking at the ground in disdain. "Is this the how you treat your niece? I hate to see how you'd have treated Aether."

"I was stupid - " he began.

"That much is obvious," Allie muttered.

He glared at her. "It was regretful that I lost my temper," he said with less anger. "I should learn to control it now that _you_ are joining me."

Allie scoffed. "In what world would that be?" She asked, looking disgusted.

"This one," Order said, smiling cruelly. Allie could suddenly smell the scent of rotting flesh and she shuddered, feeling repulsed at being in such a horrible place.

"Being him out," He ordered, waving a hand imperiously into another cell's direction.

Allie's head was forcefully turned. A pull of some magnetic strength compelled her to turn around. Something similar to a bloody sack was dragged towards her. Red trailed the floor where it was being pulled by some sort of servant.

Allie's throat felt suddenly dry. "Who is that?" She whispered. "If that is one of my people I _swear..._ " Her fists clenched so hard that she left dark crescents in her skin.

"And you consider _me_ stupid," Order said smiling. "As if I would be that juvenile. Pull over the tarp." His minion gleefully exposed the person, uncovering his unruly hair and face.

He tensed his shoulders, struggling as much as he could against the frame. The iron creaked and groaned but the metal held. He glared furiously at Order.

"I suppose it's gotten so tiring that you need me for entertainment?" He spat. "What do you want me to do? The hula? Or is it the knives again?" Allie shuddered.

There was something about the nose that seemed familiar. The strange face with the dimpled chin and his rough spindly fingers. The way he twisted his feet as he talked and the caramelized tint of his skin. It all came together as she sat in the shadows. Her heart seemed to stop.

"Repair boy?" She breathed.

He seemed to freeze, his the exhale coming from his mouth pausing. His eyes shot to the spot she was chained and finally seemed to see her. Allie hadn't even realized her hood had fallen.

" _Beauty Queen?_ " He asked, suddenly looking far more horrified. "What are you… I know, I mean Hazel..." He spluttered, unable to show his confusion. He attempted to lift the bloody mess that was his left arm but ultimately failed.

"Leo," Allie whispered softly looking at him, fear settling into her heart.

 _He's going after my friends,_ she thought grimly. _Order is torturing my_ friends.

Then Leo seemed to snap himself out of it. "Of _course_ you're Piper," he said, with a bit of the cracked humor she had always taken for granted.

"It's not like she's dead or anything!" His gaze turned cold and when he strained against the chains again, the look in his eyes was murderous.

"Every - single - time!" He screamed, looking at Order with undiluted hatred. "Visions of my friends, dead, no less, and you expect me to believe it? This is crazy! You and I, we're both insane!"

Order looked more amused than ever, and Allie knew why. This was just a sick sitcom to him, and Order was more than happy to enjoy the show.

He looked at Leo, who stared back equally defiant. There was a wave of a hand, and Leo was screaming. Yelling at the top of his lungs.

Allie could see invisible bullets penetrate his skin, the knives slashing mercilessly everywhere. Blood, more sticky, disgusting blood flowed from his wounds and dripped onto the slimy dungeon floor.

Allie couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop it!" She shrieked. "Stop it Order! I'll do it. I'll do whatever you want." Her head bowed and she looked at the floor, her tears blurring her vision. It seemed to go on forever, but Leo dangled limply, his feet now touching the floor. Any fight he might have had seemed to have been knocked out of him.

Order raised his eyebrow in mock interest. "That's it?" He said, looking at the situation as if it was humorous.

"No," Allie said quickly. "One condition. Just one."

Order nodded. "Perhaps. What is it you require?" He looked at her curiously, as if wondering what she could possibly want. Allie promised herself that if it didn't work then she would press the miniature dove on her wrist.

"A bargain," she said quietly. "For a lifetime of loyalty."

Order finally looked up, the conversation peaking his interest. "Loyalty? Well I suppose it would be too hard to break you, and then mold you into a solider. This _would_ be ideal."

Allie swallowed, hoping she wasn't going to regret what she was about to do. "I-I..." she began.

"Get on with it girl," Order snapped, looking impatiently at his watch. Leo still hadn't said a word, still recovering from the immense pain he had been put through.

"A battle." Allie said shakily. "Set me up against you're best soldier. It can't be Hazel. No matter what, you let Leo go. If I win, I get to leave and you won't stop me. If I lose, I-I sell my soul."

Order pondered this, looking disdainfully at Leo, his clothes in rags and his bones almost broken completely.

"You want him?" Order asked skeptically. "Really?"

Allie nodded, refusing to show fear. "Yes. Nothing you say will change my mind. You can leave the offer," she bluffed. "But I assure you, not even torturing him will make be break." She pointed to Leo. _Lies. Does he know I'm lying?_

Just to be sure, she raised her mental shields. She reinforced them as much as she could, but knew that Order could break them without a second thought.

His fingers were on her chin and he paced, looking conflicted. "I accept your offer," he said carefully.

"Then I have one more condition," Allie said, her heart lightening. She felt a sliver of something akin to hope, but pushed it away. She had almost no chance of survival.

"I didn't agree to that," Order snapped back, his back arching luxuriously as he kicked Leo in the ribs. The boy groaned, and Allie could hear something snap. She forced herself to conceal her rage.

"You cannot read my mind," Allie barked, some of her confidence returning. "I am to have proper food at water until the battle tomorrow. It may not be poisoned."

Order just frowned. "These are basic things. I am insulted that you doubt my honor."

Allie just spit disgustedly on the ground. "There's no honor here," she retorted.

"Very well," Order said eventually. "I accept your conditions." A smirk rose it's way on Allie's face. Order was about to walk out of the cell, when Allie slammed her heels so hard against the wall that the stone cracked. She chose to ignore the throbbing in her ankles.

"Swear it," she growled, struggling against the restraints. "I ne- want you to swear it. I refuse to cooperate otherwise."

Order frowned. "It is most unconventional," he snapped. "I don't have to swear anything." Allie fought harder, and she could see the cracks forming where her mind was starting to break through Order's pixelated image. She knew that she was still in the hunter's camp. If she lost the battle, they would realize in time that she was dead.

"Alright!" Order said quickly, seeing her attempts at escape were working. "I agree. You will also swear, won't you?"

Allie nodded tersely. "Of course."

He held out his arm and Allie did the same.

"Do you, Allie Chaos, promise to fight the warrior of my choice, who is not Hazel Levesque, and follow the rules we have discussed? Including that you shall not attempt to escape? Will you promise that if you lose, you shall be bound by loyalty to me, for the rest of your life?" _Which, if I lose, won't be very long,_ Allie thought grimly.

"I will abide by these terms," Allie said firmly. A golden chain wrapped around her neck. "I swear this on my life." The chain faded into her skin.

"Do you, Order, brother of Chaos swear that I will not have to fight Hazel, _or you,_ and that regardless if I win or lose Leo Valdez walks free? Do you swear that if I win the battle, I myself will walk away without any interference from you or any under your command?" She made her instructions painfully specific, knowing that Order planned on facing her himself.

His eyes narrowed and his teeth grit, but he still managed to snarl, "I will abide by these terms. I swear this on my life." The black chain sank into his throat.

"It's done," Allie said, feeling suddenly cheerful. She wondered if she could provoke him enough to get him to lose his temper, breaking the pact. She was curious to how well an everlasting curse worked on a primordial.

She doubted that she could escape with Leo with her, and she wasn't about to try. As long as he got to go free, she didn't quite mind.

Allie took a breath, and Order seemed to take that as his cue to leave. He walked coldly out of the room without so much as a goodbye. He left Leo cruelly chained to the metal board, his handcuffs so tight that Allie could sense the cracked skin beneath.

She closed her eyes and let water trickle into them, giving out a small sigh of relief as Leo blinked in surprise, flexing his hands experimentally and finding they didn't hurt.

She strained her powers and forced his bones back together, knitting up his torn ligaments and sealing the large punctures in his skin.

He moaned in agony, grunting at the sudden pain in his body. He had raised his head to glare at the ground when he seemed to realize that the pain had faded.

"What the...smoking bagel elves," he muttered to himself. "Did the Santa mermaid just fix me?"

Allie smiled, but didn't take credit for her work. She was pleased that the bone structure had been repaired, she had originally been worried that his right foot was far too broken for her to fix. Almost every single part of it had been utterly shattered, the shards everywhere.

She couldn't imagine how painful it must've been. Allie forced her head up as she sagged, her energy pulsing as if it had a life of it's own.

"Hey," she managed to croak, coughing slightly. "How are you?"

His head shot up, and he seemed to finally realize he wasn't alone in the room.

"Hey yourself," he said back. "So what did you do to piss that guy off?"

Allie didn't answer, as she thought about what she was going to say. Eventually, she gave up trying to think of excuses.

"You go first," she said, feeling a mischievous chuckle well up in her throat. "Start from the beginning." She hoped it would give her some time to think.

"Sure," Leo shrugged, smirking crookedly. "Well, when a man and a woman fall in love..."

"Leo!" She laughed, tempted to swat her friend over the head. "Ugh, you funny little twerp."

He posed, sticking out his arms. Allie supposed they had gotten more muscular since the last time she had seen him, but that wasn't saying very much.

"I'll have you know, that I was known as Mister Hot-Stuff," he pouted, and Allie was briefly reminded of a much more dorky, much more _adorable_ version of that grin. _Damien_ , she thought worriedly. _Is he here too? Does Order have another of our friends captive?_

He seemed to notice she had stopped smiling, and by extension, the laughter had dropped off his face.

"Well, I dunno," he said looking less cheerful as he recounted it. "He was apparently looking for me. I guess I was born with the power to annoy people from a thousand miles away."

Allie smiled. "It's not that rare," she poked fun at his pride. "I have that power too. And I guarantee that it's stronger than yours."

"Not effing likely," he snorted, "I had a serial dirt goddess after me for like, twenty years. You'd think she'd be all, _la di daa_ , but nope." He waved his hands around for emphasis, putting a demented look on his face.

Allie just laughed it off. "You think that's bad? Try being that idiot's adopted _niece_. I mean, you try and kill him one time and suddenly he hates you. Seriously, that guy has got _problems_."

Leo's mouth almost dropped to the floor. "You're that guy's niece?" He demanded.

" _Adopted_ niece," she corrected. "Chaos is practically my mom with all the fussing and stuff. I use her last name, so… yeah. Niece."

Allie used her wind powers to levitate Leo's jaw back into his mouth. "You can't just tell him like, to, I don't know, _give up world domination_?"

Allie sighed, facepalming as best she could. "Did you not hear the part where I specifically said that he hates me? Or did you just miss that by a unicorn hair?"

He shrugged. "I don't know about unicorn hair, but man. That was weird."

" _I'm_ weird!" Allie demanded, almost spluttering with laughter. "This is coming from the guy who introduced himself by talking about mermaids! And Santa! And hot bikini-wearing bagels!"

"Oi," he retorted, smirking. "I don't believe I said anything about bikinis." He adopted a dreamy expression. "Now Reyna. Reyna and bikinis. That works."

Allie didn't think she'd ever giggled so hard in her life. "Reyna?" She spluttered. "Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano?" She recited this perfectly, through years of practice of calling the Roman Legion to war.

Leo studied her, a slight glimmer of wariness in his eyes. "You know her?" He asked suspiciously. "How?"

Allie fiddled with her feet. "Uh… I was introduced to her when my mom, the army and I showed up to save the world." _Allie,_ she told herself wryly, _you really need to learn how to make up a believable lie. Also, you need to stop talking to yourself. Right. Now._

"No really," Leo insisted, looking anxious. "Did something happen to her?"

"Leo, relax." Allie said gently. "She's _fine_." Leo's ADHD build just couldn't stay still, and though he seemed to sag with thankfulness, his hands just kept tinkering with the spare with in his shirt.

"I mean, it doesn't really matter, like I care, she's probably still in the legion, and well, yeah." He finished lamely, blushing bright red. "So what really happened?" He looked at her curiously, and Allie was gratified to see that he didn't seem to care about her identity.

She just chuckled. "Actually, I was being serious. The Guardians, Chaos and I, well, I'm a Guardian by the way," she added in a secretive fashion, even though she knew it was pointless. Order already knew that information and probably had an entire file on 'how to mentally torture the kids from earth'.

"Yeah, well we came to earth because apparently Chaos's brother was bent on destroying it. Perhaps your irritatingness just extends past this planet into ours," she teased fondly, recounting all the pranks they had pulled on the Argo II.

"Hardy har har," Leo said dryly, sending her a long suffering look. "I love all the sympathy I'm getting here. Really, you're smothering me."

"You're welcome," she grinned cheekily. "You know, once we get out of here, I'll have to make you my new brother. I can even try to set you up with Reyna…" She smiled thoughtfully at the idea. That was one pair that she had never dreamed would get together. In fact, she didn't even know if she was currently dating anyone.

"If you get out of here..." His smile died as he studied her confusedly. "Look, I know you're all dressed up like Piper and stuff, and believe me, she was an amazing person, but she's dead. You're being super nice, and frankly, the first pleasant conversation I've had in about fifty years. But… you don't have to pretend to be my friend just cause' you're disguised as our Beauty Queen."

Allie's heart stopped, and she considered lying again. She just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Leo." She whispered. "Repair boy, this isn't a trick. I'm not that horrible, manipulative, curse-worthy shit of a puppeteer. It's really me, I'm Piper."

Leo scowled, the expression marring his normally peaceful face. "And here we go again," he said bitterly. "I actually thought we could be getting somewhere."

"Leo, please," she begged. She couldn't stand to think that he thought she was a liar. "Listen to me. Ask me something only Piper would know." Leo looked skeptical.

"Order probably just got that from my brain," he said looking annoyed. "He does this often, you know. This isn't the first time I've seen holograms of you Piper. Or Perce. Hell, even Hazel shows up sometimes. But weird. Like, all evil and stuff."

Allie sighed. "Hear me out, alright? When I died, there was a lot of pain."

He raised an eyebrow. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. All you're going to give me, is that 'you' supposedly 'died' and that it hurt. Bravo. I admire your acting skills." He made the quotation marks with his fingers and Allie was tempted to electrify him.

"Leo," she hissed through gritted teeth. "If you don't shut your mouth, I'll do it for you."

He raised an eyebrow, seeming to get his diva on. "Right, because _you_ can shut me up. Nobody can do that lady, and the sooner you understand that my sass is just too sassalicious for you-" Allie sealed his lips shut.

"Murmurph!" He protested, looking stunned.

"Can holographs do _that_?" Allie asked, smirking. "Appearance spells are easy, but they have to be refreshed once an hour and are very obvious to put on. It's been an hour, Leo. I'm still here, and I'm clearly not a hologram."

"Burghedly!" He grumbled.

"Are you going to keep interrupting me with your sassaliciousness?" Allie demanded. He reluctantly shook his head.

"Good," Allie said thoughtfully, wondering what she could tell him that Order didn't know.

"Well, you saw the magic black fire, then the sacrifice. Hazel explained everything, how you were contained and stuff. Then we snuck out and, well, obviously got captured. Annabeth killed Hazel, everything went downhill from there. They had some device that was like the pain Order just inflicted on you, and then everything went dark." She took a deep breath.

"Any questions?" She asked cheekily. She cupped her face in her hands and tried to contain her laughter. He looked so ridiculous and his eyes burned with an air of mock irritation.

"Merghmehph!" He almost screamed as loudly as he could.

"Clearly not," she said, taking a tiny bit of pleasure from the annoyed look on his face.

"So then Damien, who you know as Percy, and I became guardians and protected the planet Meroupia. Its great and being so close to Chaos is like having a real mom. We brought a lot of more people back to life, and those are the rest of the Guardians of the other planets. I can't tell you where they are, here, but maybe later," she said hopefully. _If I make it out alive._

Leo's eyes darkened and it was clear he was thinking the same thing. Allie finally unzipped his lips.

"I have no idea if you're really Piper or not," he said quietly. "Right now I'm leaning towards not. You're unbelievable story… I mean, some of it is true. I haven't seen anything but dark walls and a tiny patch of sunlight for about a thousand years. I stopped counting the scratches on the wall centuries ago."

He hesitated.

"I trust you though, and you do remind me of her. When I get to leave, I hope that you come with me. If you're really telling the truth," he shook his head.

"I'm not going to get my hopes up. But either way, you're the first friendly face in a while, so I'm not that keen on letting you die. I can help you, maybe," he offered.

"No!" Allie said immediately. "This is my battle."

"I think I'm going insane," Leo laughed. "Maybe if everything else lines up… I can meet this Chaos lady… maybe I'll believe you. But for now, what can I call you?"

Allie smiled. "I haven't been called Piper in so long," she replied. "I go by Allie now."

He looked at her curiously, a hint of a grin tugging at his lips. "Allie. I like it. Seems a little plain, but I suppose it's up to you."

Allie looked out him in outrage. "Plain!" She shouted in jest. "I'll have you know that Allie is a far better name than 'hot bagels in bikinis'!"

They both collapsed on their boards in giggles, regardless that they were chained the wall, regardless that Allie's life stood in the balance.

Allie bit her lip, wishing that they could do this in a better place.

 _If I don't make it back…_ Allie couldn't bear to think of it. Dying wasn't that bad in itself, but she wondered how betrayed Damien would feel if his best friend abandoned him. Allie knew that she hadn't completely recovered from her own heartbreak, and to have it ripped out twice?

 _Oh Chaos,_ she thought helplessly, trying to hide her heavy heart from her friend. _Please forgive me Damien._

 _The last thing I ever wanted to be was a traitor._


	10. Chapter 10

She awoke with a start, her matted hair banging against the wall as she jolted awake. Allie inhaled raggedly, watching her chest rise and fall.

 _At least I'm still breathing,_ she thought glumly. She looked at her dirty cameo pants, now blackened at the edges. Allie half wished she could have altered the digital pixels that transported her there and just teleport away. But she would never do that to Leo.

Allie glanced at the tiny window by the wall, glad that the sun had risen. She quickly stretched her foot out as far as it was able and analyzed the shadow, determining that it was about seven thirty.

She looked at Leo, who was still out cold. His tongue was sticking out of his mouth and he drooled a bit at the corners.

"Leo," she hissed, trying to wake him. "Leo… get up..."

He ignored her, snorting slightly and turning his head the other way. His arm, now totally healed, made a small flickering motion with his hands as if shooing away a fly.

"Leoo," Allie sang, trying to sound like the Roman leader. " _Reyna's_ here..."

Leo's eyes shot open, and his hand shot instinctively to his hair. He ran it through a couple of times before realizing where he was.

"Oh. It's just you," he said grumpily.

"I'm feeling the love," Allie chastised, shaking her head at his naivety. "You've given me permanent access to your dating life and I'm not about to just let it go."

He groaned, shooting her a patronizing look. "Gods no. Please no."

"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into," she laughed. "And I promise you will regret making me your wing lady."

He raised an eyebrow. "Please tell me you said that wrong. I really don't need to regret anything else today."

"I meant what I said," she said grinning. "Why by Chaos would I be _helpful_ in your relationship?" Allie paused as a thought struck her. She scratched her head quizzically. Leo looked at her, a curious expression on his face.

"Were you two ever dating?" She wondered.

Leo shrugged. "During the end of the, y'know, Gaea, crazy psycho Tia Callida and burning fireplaces... Oh! Can't forget the map. And then the knives. Crazy old hag…"

She blinked. "You're still a demigod you know," she pointed out. "Hera could still burn your smoking arse all the way to Hawaii."

Leo looked interested. "Hawaii you say?" He pretended to contemplate her statement. "And this would be bad because…?"

"Well, obviously," she said, rolling her eyes, "That is where the largest colony of secret society bikini wearing bagels live. And they are mad that you revealed their identity."

Leo stared at her incredulously, seemingly amazed that there was somebody equally as stupid as him residing on earth.

"Duh." She added.

He attempted to facepalm as best he could, his hand straining against the chains. "Of course," he said. "Why I didn't think of that I will never know."

She nodded superiorly. "My brainpower is just triple the size of yours," she said proudly. "Don't hate me cause' I'm smart, dummy."

"Well, beautiful people don't lie," He quoted her, or the friend that he thought was dead. She laughed, creating a fake arm out of water and swatting him with it.

"Don't you forget it Valdez." He smirked at her, and she grinned right back. After a struggling battle in which a staring contest was initiated (and lost) by Allie, she finally gave up.

"Very well," she said primly. "I suppose your annoyingness does overpower mine."

"Yes!" He crowed. "Victory!" Allie sighed, looking irritated. While the casual banter was fun, she could feel her strength draining away every second she spent.

She knew that the only reason that she hadn't been killed was because Order believed that he could turn the Guardians against Chaos.

Allie inwardly scoffed at the thought.

She struggled to think of a way to kill her opponent in a way that would make it look like an accident, as to keep Order away from the fact that she was half-primordial.

Allie shuddered at how quickly he would slaughter his sister if that happened. Order knew as well as she did that they couldn't protect her forever.

"Hey Allie? AlDog. You okay?" Allie blinked as she came back to her senses. Her thoughts faded away to the noise in the background.

"Y-yeah," she said, her voice slightly jumbled. "I just feel so pent up. I really want to fight now."

He looked sympathetic. "I know Allie. But the stupid - " He invented a lot of colorful language " - idiot can't beat the spirit out of you. I mean, he couldn't out of me." He smiled toothily, and Allie recalled his inability to be serious even in the most strenuous times.

"I suppose," she said warmly. They fell into a comfortable silence, playing chopsticks on their fingers.

"Hey!" Leo cried indignantly. "That's cheating! You can't revive!"

Allie looked at him in confusion. "Yes you can. We are playing chopsticks, right?"

He nodded vigorously. "I need a rulebook so I can point out to you that you can't -" he jutted his finger into the wall for some stupid reason. "Ow. Revive!"

"I believe that I can't, 'ow, revive' either," she said dryly.

He stuck his nose in the air. "Urg, you know what I mean, Allie."

She played it innocent, raising her eyebrows and giving him her best puppy dog look. "I do?" She asked cutely.

"Yes," Leo said, refusing to give in. Allie stretched her eyes as wide as she could, and Leo's smirk seemed in enlarge.

"You do realize that you're bug-eyed now, right? It doesn't even look cute anymore," he said mockingly. Allie pouted, sticking her lower lip out as far as it could go, and Leo winced again.

"Dude, you really haven't worked on you're cute faces, have you?" He inquired genuinely.

"I don't know," Allie said shrugging. "Damien always seemed to fall for them. He could do a pretty good impression himself."

Leo looked amused, "The guy you claim is Percy, Percy _Jackson_ , is giving in to _that_ look?" He snorted. "How the mighty have fallen."

Allie whacked him again with the liquid appendage.

"Hey!" He protested. "That's not fair! I don't have a giant water arm around to poke you!" He crossed his arms, finally looking wide awake. Allie doused him just for good measure.

He spluttered through the water and looked at her with an expression strangely reminiscent to the grumpy cat.

"You're a poo," he growled. "As soon as I can, I'm gonna dump you in a giant pool of water." Allie just chuckled at the thought, wondering how he'd respond when all the water dripped right off of her.

"That'll be hard, you've been ignoring the fact that I can control the element," she pointed out, still laughing quietly to herself. "Maybe you'll get lucky with a water balloon, but that's about it."

Leo looked annoyed. "This isn't fair," he said, dragging out the "r". "Why am _I_ the victim here?"

"I don't know, Leo," she said smirking. "I guess it's just because I'm, as you so call me, "a poo". I see your insults have also evolved over the years."

"They have," he agreed. "Yesterday I called a prisoner a "pansy". I'm just monstrous."

"Very," she added wryly. "That poor pansy must have broken down in tears." Her stomach ached as she refrained from bursting into laughter.

Leo looked scandalized. "Don't call him a pansy _again_! The poor guy will be scarred for life! I mean not even twice, but _three_ times. How can he live with himself?"

Allie bit her lip. "I'm sure it will be h-hard," she choked, the giggles already coming up. "R-really hard-d."

"Ha-ard-d-d?" Leo repeated, exaggerating her stutter. "I wonder what _that_ is."

Allie swatted him with her watery hand, making sure not to hurt him. "S-shut up, V-valdez."

"V-v-v-valdez? I didn't know that was my name now," he said, now laughing himself. "I d-don't think that's h-how it works."

"Oh, you're a poo," she responded, her stomach finally settling. "One of these days Valdez… one of these -"

The door burst open, and Allie felt a sudden chill. Order stalked in, looking predatory as he paced.

"What have you done?" he snapped, looking at them murderously. " _What have you done_?"

Allie created a shield around Leo, built to respond if attacked. She knew that it was not strong enough to teleport her friend out if she fell on the blade.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Allie said clearly. Each syllable was controlled and calm. If she showed the slightest bit of doubt she knew Order would try to kill her. Or worse, Leo.

"Then explain!" Order snarled. "Who captured my lieutenant! _And why_?" Allie blinked.

"I didn't even know you had a lieutenant," she said reasonably. "What could I possible have given my allies that-"

"Allies," Leo chuckled. "Like multiple versions of you. Little Allies' wandering all over the place." Both Order and Allie stared at him incredulously.

" _No_ Leo," Allie said, looking annoyed. "Allies, as in people you are working with. A-L-L-I-E-S. How could I have possibly helped your enemies?"

She looked back at Order, attempting for a confused expression, though she inwardly cheered. She was slightly thankful to her friend, glad that he had confused Order enough that he was too befuddled to hurt them.

"I don't know," Order looked enraged again. "One of you… I don't know, gave them coordinates. I know it."

Allie bit back a cheeky remark, thanking Chaos that she was here instead of Damien. Chaos knew he would have joked by now. He would probably have a few more scars too.

"I don't know," she said as respectfully as she could. It was hard, the words felt like bile in her throat and she plastered a sickly smile on her face.

Order lunged forward, clutching her throat. His claw like fingernails raked across her neck and she used the air element to force air into her lungs. As she gasped for breath, Order tortured her the same way he did to Leo. She felt the knives, the bullets, the acid.

Allie screamed as the cuts opened up on her skin and the blood started flowing again. The blood started flowing. The blood flowing. The blood. Blood.

All coherent thought left her mind and it was just agony. And then there was nothing. A numbness surrounded her, covered her. She could hear two people screaming. She knew one of them was her.

Then the soothing nothingness left, and she was back. Her eyes rolled back, and she blinked several times.

"The deal," she choked out. "You swore, the deal." She collapsed against the wall.

"You don't know," Order said nastily. "I could have very well given you food while you were unconscious. There is no sturdy evidence that I broke the pact."

He motioned to the guard by the door.

"Take the girl to the arena." He looked at the other soldier. "You: dump this one," he looked distastefully at Leo, taking in his ragged appearance and clothing for seemingly the first time.

"Put him… outside the gates. We release the wolves at sundown." He opened his mouth in a feral smile, and Allie shuddered.

"I suggest you run," he hissed to Leo.

Allie felt tears gather in the corners of her eyes but refused to let them fall. "You swore," she snarled, her civility forgotten. " _You swore_!"

Order smiled coldly. "And I do not believe the wolves are under my command. However, if my finger just… slips," He motioned to the wolf shaped button on his heel, "who can fault the animals for finding a snack?"

Allie imagined the blood and again slipped into her daydream. "So much blood," she said aloud, still holding back her tears. "You're a fucking monster, Order."

He didn't even react. "You act as if I haven't been called that before," he said, nearly smiling. "I'm insulted that you think I'm offended by that petty slur."

She didn't fight against the guard, knowing it was a waste of energy. "Let's just go," she said darkly. It took all her restraint to grab Leo and teleport, knowing that the energy to make the journey would kill him. She had to get outside the shield before she could get him away.

Allie hoped she wouldn't be too late.

Order walked ahead of her, stepping in a regal fashion. Allie could barely contain her disgust.

They eventually got to a circular stadium. At least seventy hundred people were gathered outside in lines. Allie wondered how many were de facto monsters and how many were human. It became clear that this was simply Order's base on earth.

She wondered how big his army was if he was willing to risk so many monsters. Allie curled her lip. She supposed that Order thought that these people, these living, breathing _people_ , were just disposable.

 _Disposable._ Allie almost wished she were too.

She clenched her fists and thanked her mentor that she still had her hidden blades. Katoptris was gone, but she had used it as a decoy. She resented giving up her trusted knife, but knew that it would return when she had great need of it.

For now, she had her bracelets, her ice spikes and the knife she had hidden under her tongue. The small, toothpick sized blade could expand until it was slightly smaller than her other sword.

She fiddled with it, checking and rechecking that it was there.

Order stopped, looking at the entrance with glee. "Even if you killed my lieutenant, even if you're attempting to recruit her, it won't matter. I will have one of the Guardians today, and the rest tomorrow."

 _Like effing hell you will,_ she thought privately. Allie smiled to herself. _One way or another, I won't serve you,_ she repeated, the words thrumming in her head repetitively.

Allie could feel the pull of the arena, trying to coax her into giving up. She knew it was a part of the fight, but was surprised at how weak it was. Fighting was almost always about mental strength, not physical prowess.

Order would probably turn it up as the battle continued, she decided. Allie had made it up pretty high before, but with her luck, Order might just make it powerful enough to kill her.

"Put me down," Allie grunted. The two burly guards holding her up looked at Order in confirmation. He gave a short nod, and they released her. She fell to the floor with a thud, and the crowd groaned, expecting another prisoner fight.

Prisoner fights were common in the different galaxies. When a human had committed a crime, they could either get sent to jail for life or go in the arena. If they killed their opponent, then they were free of all charges and recruited into the army. If they lost… well, there were rarely any body parts to harvest.

Allie gave a small smirk, letting her hair hide it from the screens that captured her face. She slowly liquefied the blood coating her body, ducking behind a shield so that the screen couldn't follow.

After quickly healing her broken bones, she shrank she cuts and bruises, but left an equal amount of blood so that nobody would be able to tell.

Allie limped pitifully into the large circular stadium, and gave a mock cry of pain. The crowd seemed to roar with laughter, looking at the small girl whimper. Allie felt a sudden surge of disgust, and didn't feel quite so bad for them anymore.

She dragged herself into the middle of the ring, and she grudgingly let them blindfold her. She hissed in anticipation, the referee's claws digging into her skin.

Though she couldn't see him, she knew that the creature judging was far from human. A man stepped out of the door opposite the ring, his teeth glinting handsomely.

Allie used her heat sensor, a part of her vision to make an accurate picture in her mind.

Half the girls in the audience screamed out and Allie couldn't help the large grin that broke out onto her face. She played it off as a lovesick act, curling her fingers around her dirty locks.

 _Oh_ this _will be fun_ , she thought mischievously.

"Weapon!" The referee barked. Allie reached blindly forward, only to be pushed back by a rough hand.

"You don't get a weapon, _scum,_ " he spat at her. Allie tensed, already planning the second murder of the day. She smiled, creating the illusion that her teeth sprouted fangs.

He recoiled, muttering something about vampires, daylight, and, most entertainingly of all, "mommy".

Allie supposed her galaxy like beauty was enough to make anyone scream. She continued to think sarcastic thoughts.

"I'm ready," she said gruffly.

The referee nodded shakily. "To your stations!" Allie pretended to stumble blindly, though she had already pinpointed where she had to start. Eventually, she made it to the point and sat down confusedly.

The man looked at Order. "Sir, you want me to fight this?" He asked dubiously. "Isn't it a bit, you know, stupid?"

Allie smiled. _Bull's-eye,_ she thought.

"No!" Order said in frustration. "She's acting. Are you not supposed to be my general? You are as of now my most powerful fighter. She is my sister's."

The man sounded surprised. "This, my lord? This is the fabled Atalanta Chaos?"

Order's voice seemed to resonate louder than ever. "Are you doubting me?" He snarled, with no small amount of malice. Allie turned her head towards the man, feeling pity for anyone who was in his army.

"No my lord," he said, bowing. "I will dispose of the vermin immediately." Allie's enhanced hearing picked up a few more words. "If this is the best resistance Chaos has to offer, I wonder why Order even needs an army."

Allie grit her teeth, feeling sudden anger course through her veins _. Don't worry_ , she thought bitterly. _The vermin will kill you._

As if responding to her racing heart, the blades on her wrists slowly activated and the claws she had had magically attached to her nails, extended.

"Five!" The referee counted. "Four, three, two," Allie tensed her muscles, and she could hear whispers running through the crowd.

"Why is the General fighting _it_?"

"Shouldn't he fight Jen Khan or something?"

"Who is that even? I wish I was the girl facing him!"

Allie rolled her eyes. _If you were "the girl facing the general", you would be killed because you are obviously can't fight,_ she mentally pointed out.

"One!" He shouted. As custom, Allie tore off the blindfold. The black leather fabric landed on the ground with a thud.

Allie felt panic for the first time since her imprisonment. _Fuck_ \- she swore repetitively as she realized what Order had done.

Her vision was cloudy. It. Was. Fucking. _Cloudy._

"Order," she snarled, her voice filling with such hatred that the audience seemed to look at her more closely. Allie really _was_ blind. She could barely see: the misty white blocked out most of the arena.

She let out another roar of rage, before realizing what she had done. The man was inching closer now, looking much more wary than he had a few seconds. Allie cursed herself for losing the element of surprise.

Clearly the "General" had lost most of his confidence. Allie knew that he didn't reach that position out of pure egotistical attitude. It was clear that he was now regarding her as a real opponent, which was the last thing she wanted.

Her only gratification was that Order wouldn't permanently blind someone he would make part of his army.

She dropped the act completely, the blood melting off her face and body. The audience hushed and Allie wished she could just block them out.

She thanked every possible thing she had ever worshipped that she could sense heat patterns.

She felt him slowly moving, and Allie reached into her mouth, grabbing the blade before unsheathing it obviously. It expanded to it's full size, and Allie quickly captured the metal signature, duplicating the knife.

It's twin had the symbol of a phoenix on the hilt, and the other one had a dove. Allie held the two daggers defensively, knowing she had to make it look like an accident. Whispers were starting in the crowd, spreading like wildfire.

There were rumors that this wasn't a prisoner fight: _it was the enemy's apprentice._

Allie stayed light on her toes, waiting for him to attack. She knew the screens were being broadcast everywhere, Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, probably even the Amazons.

She thanked Chaos that her face had changed from the last time she'd been on earth.

Her eyes had changed to a swirling grey and black, with little specks of white. Her hair was dyed with some colorful streaks, but she remembered the blue jay feathers just in time. She had torn them out the day before.

She hoped that the only reason Leo had recognized her was because of the feathers. She kept her head low, trying to prevent the cameras from seeing her face, however she wasn't too worried.

In all of the fights she had watched, the screen mainly stayed above the fighters, getting the birds eye view. She sensed him moving closer. _Any moment now..._

He lunged.

Allie countered, her knife the speed of lightning. With one shot, she held his blade in place, using her other one to slash downwards and impale part of his torso.

She inwardly laughed, wondering why this pathetic man was Order's general. _Perhaps his overconfidence_ did _get him this job_ , the thought gleefully.

He stood up again, and Allie could suddenly feel his heat signature change. She tensed, shooting to the left in panic and she could feel a burning sensation just millimeters from where her arm had been.

 _He had whips. Fire whips_ , she thought grimly. One of the most dangerous weapons in the galaxy, they had been gifted to Freya, a Guardian before Charlie and Sapphire. Freya had lost them after several millennia.

 _Well, mystery solved._

She dodged again, flipping in the air and landing on one hand. She eluded a second attack and decided to fool Order into thinking she was one of the leaders of Neptune.

 _Anything but a primordial._

A column of water spat viciously into his general vicinity. It sizzled and burned. Allie could feel the poison churning through every vein in her body - it physically hurt her to channel it into something as pure as water.

The large wave swept the General, throwing him with such force that his weapon was temporarily extinguished. He fell to the ground, the acid eating away at his skin.

Many of the spectators gasped in horror as they saw the gruesome sores erupt all over his body. Several girls screamed shrilly, and Allie was tempted to burn her ears shut.

She finally released the flow of poison and she felt a surge of relief as her body straightened.

Allie ran towards him but he recovered far faster than she'd thought he would. When she was about to stab her knife into his back, he writhed out of her grip easily.

He faced her, a look of shock on her face. Allie could just imagine it. The milky white screen still encased her eyes, but she could start to see an outline. A nose, a face and a rugged jaw stared back at her.

She smiled cruelly, raising both her daggers in the universal symbol for "come at me bro".

Then they were fighting. It was a blur of silver and black, his dark parallel swords contrasting against her gleaming blades.

She lunged at him, countering every strike. It was getting easier, she could see more than outlines now. Colors were starting to appear: small glimpses of his technique could be studied.

Part of her heart steadied, but she wanted to end it. It was back and forth for a while. Allie didn't feel the least bit of strain having discovered using her powers much more strenuous than actually fighting.

It seemed to be minutes, though Allie knew it had to have been at least an hour.

Allie could see him tiring. He wanted it done just as much as she did and as a result he was starting to slip.

He became increasingly lazy with his strokes, stumbling on the uneven territory as he struggled to return her attacks.

Allie smiled, watching in the corner of her eyes Order's expression. The rage on his face was steadily progressing, looking furious as his best fighter was slowly worn down.

She finally saw an opening and took it, lunging across his person and striking him through the ribs and piercing his lung.

He coughed, but made one last slice, getting a deep gash on her neck. Allie immediately turned 90 degrees away from the cameras and healed the cut, leaving only a clean white scar.

The general's eyes widened and he mouthed something.

Allie looked at him pitifully as he lay dying in the sandy arena. The audience was up on their feet, screaming wildly as a famous hero agonizingly bled out.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." She murmured when she was right above him. He just smiled.

"I'm glad at least I died fighting," he said quietly. "Please don't drag it out."

Allie nodded, feeling sudden sympathy. It was more than likely that he had been raised since birth to attain that attitude. He had no direct fault. But he had probably murdered thousands of people. _Her_ people.

That thought alone steeled her resolve as she brought her knife down. The audience as a whole seemed to gasp as the breath left his lungs. Allie made a small symbol over her heart.

"Bless this man," she whispered pleadingly. "Give him fair trial." The dove hologram once again appeared over his head.

Allie gave a small smile as she sheathed her knife in the belt clasp of her cameo pants.

She strode out of the arena, proud that she had completely wiped out one of Order's most powerful people with only one element. She hadn't even raised suspicion.

Allie watched the crowd part as she made her way to the entrance. The clear barrier separating her and the audience had been torn down in all the confusion.

Order raised a hand to stop the people. As enraged as he was, as they _all_ were, they did not dare disobey him.

"I made an oath," he managed to snarl. His lone voice echoed along the walls, the sound ricocheting again and again. Order looked away.

"Go!" He almost yelled at her. He held his face in his hands, and Allie didn't hesitate. She felt the shields surrounding her collapse, and easily teleported away.

She appeared in a desert, the same place where Order had promised he'd leave Leo. Allie felt the anger swell up in her again.

The last thing she wanted was to be reminded of how many times he had broken the oath but not suffered the consequences.

She scanned the area, and was almost surprised to find the heat signature of her friend. She teleported again towards the symbol and finally materialized next to Leo.

He jumped back several feet when she popped into existence, looking at her incredulously.

"Piper?" he demanded, appearing feverish. Allie resisted the urge to take his temperature.

"Allie," she corrected halfheartedly. He looked concerned as he eyed the blood on her face and skin. Allie had forgotten to remove the blood after she had healed the cuts.

"I'm just so glad," her voice choked up and she tried not to show emotion. Her limbs sagged now that she was not faced with the constant pressure. The burning in her muscles doubled and she grit her teeth.

"The wolves," she said, sounding more like a normal human being. "He didn't release them yet."

"He didn't," Leo agreed, looking extremely awkward. He kept fiddling with his hands as if he didn't know what to do with them. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to hug her but couldn't bring himself to do it.

"A millennia gone and you're still crap with crying girls," was all she managed to spit out. It was so lame a joke that she wanted to sob harder.

"Yeah," he said gently. "You'll be okay though. I'm not going to ask what happened. What can I help with?"

Allie's phase of self pity had immediately vanished.

"Hands on my arm!" She barked. "Close your eyes and imagine the goddess Artemis." She attempted to use her military training to let it all drown away. It didn't work. Nonetheless, she just kept snapping orders that didn't really need to be followed.

He blinked in surprise, but did what she said. "Uh, Allie, you okay? I mean, this is better than the crying but..." He trailed off confusedly.

Allie managed to finally teleport back to the hunter's camp. The flames rose around her, glowing like embers. They writhed and hissed, seemingly displeased with bringing the son of Hephaestus. Allie was in no mood for reluctance and she forced the connection.

She found herself lying on the floor, the hunters murmuring above her. As soon as she inhaled, there was a general trend of relief. She looked around, panicked and horrified that she had left her friend behind.

Leo shimmered into existence beside her, and she relaxed. Instantly the hunters had all aimed their arrows at him, preparing to release them into his head. Allie knew better than anyone that more than three arrows would shatter a mortal's skull.

Allie quickly froze each of their bows, seemingly gluing their hands to the quivers. Artemis looked especially enraged.

"How did you find the camp _boy_?" she hissed, taking a menacing step towards Leo. He suddenly looked less like he wanted to crack a joke about her hair.

Allie quickly held her hands up in defence. "Stop!" She snapped, knowing she probably looked like hell. The stench from the dungeons still clung to her body and her eyes seemed to convey rage.

"This is my friend, Lady Artemis. I rescued him from Order's prisons. I just killed Order's general for him, and if you shoot I will not hesitate to abandon you," she snarled.

 _Lies._ She knew very well that she would never abandon her mission.

Artemis grudgingly lowered her bow. "Are you alright Allie? This boy hasn't harmed you, has he?" She glowered at him disgustedly.

"No, Lady Artemis. He is Leo Valdez, remember him? I believe Annabeth does," Allie sneered again, her mouth turning up in disgust.

"Yes. I do remember." She looked thoughtful for a second. "You didn't betray the others," she seemed to recall. "However you flirted with all of my hunters."

Allie was unimpressed. "You did what?"

He looked sheepish. "I didn't really. Maybe once or twice. But not _all_ of them."

Allie facepalmed. "I wonder if you're worth it," she said wryly.

He just smirked. "Is that a challenge? I mean, my sassaliciousness is just - "

The hunters aimed their bows again, except for Thalia who smiled genuinely for the first time since Allie had come back.

"Is that a threat?" Diana hissed.

"No." Allie said, looking annoyed. "Would you attack a girl for saying that Diana?" Allie looked directly at her, challenging her to say the truth.

"Well, no," Diana conceded. "But he is male." Allie shrugged, looking slightly upset at how sexist the girls were being.

"He may be male, but he is my friend. If I hear and disrespect from either of you," she looked pointedly at Leo, "Well, you'll regret it. Are we clear?"

The girls reluctantly sighed. Thalia had a look of great amusement on her face. She caught Allie's eye and gave a small smirk. Allie responded with a smile equally as mischievous.

"We're clear," the girls mumbled.

"Leo?" Allie demanded, glaring at him. She challenged him to say differently with her eyes.

"Clear," he agreed, looking worriedly at the Vivian, who looked about a hair's width from attempting murder.

The rest of the hunters all wished Allie a good sleep, all shooting Leo suspicious looks. They shut the tent and Artemis was one of the last people there.

"Er, Valdez. I suppose you're better than a jackalope," she conceded, obviously not used to being polite to the male gender. After she had left, Leo turned to Allie.

"Was that a compliment?" He asked, looking confused.

"I think so," Allie said, both her eyebrows raised. "I may never say this again, but well done Leo."

He just rolled his eyes. "Girls."

There were suddenly arrows sticking out of holes in the tent.

"Allie can we attack him now?" Jessie questioned, sticking her head in from outside the entrance. It became evident that the hunters had gathered outside Allie's tent to 'keep watch' over her.

Allie just smiled, feeling an unusual sense of protectiveness overcome her.

"I'm afraid not Jessie. You can fight him though." Jessie's eyes lit up as if it was Christmas. "In training!" She hastily added, seeing her expression.

Leo seemed to pale. "I'm doomed."

Thalia smirked, "As one of the seven, I think we've found the stupidest one."

Leo collapsed with a groan on the mattress. "Don't even," he managed to grumble.


	11. Chapter 11

Allie finally drifted off to sleep. After a few hours of restless tossing and turning, she grudgingly propped herself up onto her elbows and got to her feet.

She padded silently out of the tent, looking around cautiously before slinking up a rock and letting her muscles unwind. She lay staring at the glowing orb in the sky before bolting upright.

"My friends!" She gasped aloud. She hadn't informed them about what had happened. The news must have spread already: Atalanta Chaos had fought in the arena. It wasn't spectacular information. If any of the other Guardians had fought, there would be just as much uproar.

She was incredibly glad that nobody knew she was _half-primordial_. She shuddered at the thought.

Allie immediately fumbled with her wrist, guilt seeping through her as she noticed 57 missed calls. She took the watch off silent and it started buzzing frantically.

She heard a chorus of voices, Sapphire, demanding to know where she was, August, threatening withdrawal of ice cream, Alina, screaming through the microphone. Most devastating of all was Damien.

"Allie," the recorded message growled through the speaker. "I swear by Chaos, you better be okay. I'm gonna tear Order to pieces. I'm leaving in an hour to look for you. You better be back by then." The voice crackled then disappeared, and Allie was left with the unbearable silence.

Allie had almost thought that they were right there with her, but then realized it was just voicemail.

She took a deep breath and pressed the little button that said 'group chat'.

"Guys, I'm okay," she spoke into the little voice sensor. "Yeah, that was me. Order had Leo. Leo Valdez, remember him? He's okay too. We're at the hunter's camp. I can't leave because I'm the only Guardian right now. Call me." She cut off the message.

There was no response. Allie knew better than to expect an answer, it was about five thirty in the morning. The guardians had most likely passed out after setting the shield around the perimeter. They'd see the call in the morning.

Suddenly there was a tiny blue dot at the edge of the screen. It expanded, and Damien's face came into view. He looked relieved, but that quickly turned into anger.

"What the hell Allie!" He exploded, sending little gray birds swirling up into the trees. She looked at him, shocked.

"You're supposed to be with the Amazons!" She gasped, realizing the message he'd sent had been ages ago.

"And you're supposed to be - not - in the arena!" He roared, sending the more colorful birds soaring towards the sky.

"I'm not in the arena," Allie snapped back, in no mood for his rage. She almost crossed her arms but realized that if she did Damien wouldn't be able to see her face.

His face contorted with fury. "Allie." He said in a clipped tone. "I'm about a mile from the arena. I've killed a pack of wolves, why the effing hell are wolves out here anyway," he muttered to himself, "and killed about five of his guards."

Her eyes widened. "What about the Amazons?!" She nearly screamed into the camera. He held up his hands, looking slightly less angry. However, since his watch was on his arm, it just gave her a very weird angle up his nose.

"I sent Alina and Charlie there. It's just temporary." He knead his head with one hand. "So Leo was there?" It was clear he had seen her message.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Been there for a while too. We have to make sure none of our other friends were captured. I mean, besides Hazel what's the probability he's turned them all to his side?"

He raised an eyebrow, and Allie was starting to see why his enemies were frightened of his blade. "After a thousand years? Maybe. A freaking millennia? It's a wonder Leo held out."

Allie glared at him. "I got to go," she said, the words sounding colder than she expected them too.

Damien shot her an equally frosty glower. "Me too," he snapped. "I have to teleport five miles at a time for about the entire night because I don't want to pass out. Thanks for nothing, _Atalanta_."

The screen turned back and Allie resisted the urge to throw it against her tent. She felt a stinging in her eyes and brushed it away.

She and Damien had never really fought before. It was normally one of them messing up and apologizing. Allie seemed to realize that this time it wouldn't be so simple.

She battled with her pride for a few seconds, wondering if she was the one who was in the wrong. Then she turned away, switching her watch off for the night. She brushed away the tears on her face. Artemis would be proud.

Crushing the hearts of males left and right: that was what she lived for, wasn't it? She felt a stab of guilt. _It's my fault,_ she thought sadly. _I should apologize. I'm not Annabeth._

With those words in mind, she quickly called Damien back, but was immediately declined. The small blue dot on the watch faded, meaning he'd rejected the call.

Allie swallowed, her adam's apple bobbing slightly as she tried to contain her hurt. _That was uncalled for, Damien._ She typed the words into the small box at the edge of the screen. It was similar to the version of text she had used when she was sixteen.

He didn't respond and Allie's lower lip trembled.

A rustling noise jostled her out of her small pity party. She had an arrow aimed at the intruder in a second, but paused when she recognized the silver parka.

"Hello?" She called, still looking wary. "Show your face, or I shoot."

The girl put her hands up, backing away slowly. She dropped her hood as well as the deer carcass she was dragging along to camp.

"Atalanta," she said carefully, her spiky hair sticking up strangely. "It's me. I'm Thalia, remember?"

Allie didn't lower her bow. "Why were you out of the camp borders? It's dangerous. Someone could have disguised themselves as Thalia with the mist."

Thalia raised her eyebrows, looking slightly annoyed. "Hello? I'm a _hunter_. Since when did we listen to rules?"

Allie's eyes narrowed, "Would you like me to list off the amount of hunters have been killed due to this lack of rules?"

Thalia's fists tightened around her bow. "Fine. I had nightmares. I wanted to hunt something."

"Okay," Allie acknowledged. "But you still haven't proved you're Thalia. Who was the prophecy refering with the line, 'one will be lost in the land without rain'?"

Thalia looked away. "Bianca Di Angelo."

Allie finally lowered her bow, taking the arrow out of the drawstring. "Sorry Thalia," she said gently. "I've had some bad experiences with imposters."

She nodded. "Me too. Well, not imposters, so much, but traitors." Allie shrugged, summoning two warm drinks.

"Coco, or tea?" She asked curiously, wondering if Thalia's preferences had changed.

"Are you joking?" She snorted. "Chocolate or vegetables… let me think…" Allie rolled her eyes, zapping the tea out of existence and summoning another hot chocolate. She couldn't help but thank whatever being that this girl was still the friend she knew.

"At least I can agree with you there," she smirked. "So..."

Thalia looked up at her from the spot she had taken on the rock. "Yeah?" She asked, looking slightly taken aback by Allie's tone.

"You and Valdez, huh?" Allie grinned at Thalia, who was looking increasingly red by the second.

"Are you trying to say that - no you can't be - I mean, that's ridiculous - and… but…. Why - I mean, you can't possibly - evil little imp - what did he say to you? I mean, not that we're... and… ugh!" She finished, looking at Allie in a mixture of horror and disgust.

Allie just giggled wildly, flailing on the rock as she tried not to drop off it. Realization dawned on her face as she realized she'd been pranked.

"I am a hunter!" She practically shrieked. "Hunters are awesome and we don't need little evil imps!"

"Yes," Allie said, still giggling. "You are a hunter. But you and he are just soooooooooo cute together..."

Thalia's mouth was open and she couldn't seem to form coherent sentences. "B-but… b-b-but..."

"Thalia, I know my backside is irresistible, but can you try to tone it down?" Allie mocked, choking with laughter as she pounded the ground with her fists. Tears leaked out of her eyes and she could barely see her friend she was laughing so hard.

"What!?" Thalia screamed. "No! Noooo. Nope. We are _not_ going there." She facepalmed, watching Allie roll around on the floor. "Fine, you have an nice gluteus maximus. But that doesn't mean - "

"You admitted it!" Allie crowed in victory. "So how would you rate Leo's butt on a scale of 1-10?"

Thalia spluttered in indignation. "We are not rating people's backsides!" She shrieked. "No! I'm a hunter! That's - that's just... " Her hot coco was on the floor, and she looked almost murderous.

"No!" She cried again. "Just… no!" She seemed utterly confused.

Allie screamed with laughter at her bewildered expression. "Another coco?" She offered sweetly.

"Yes?" Thalia said weakly, still wide eyed and staring at Allie as if she was going to turn into Leo himself. Allie snapped her hands, and two more steaming mugs appeared. Thalia eyed it warily.

"This isn't going to make me crush on the evil imp, is it?" Allie's eyes widened.

"Damnit," she grumbled. "If you could have only told me before I handed over the drink." Thalia looked nervously at the cup and moved it a few inches away from her.

Allie rolled her eyes. "Relax, Thalia," she said, smirking. "Kidding. I swear."

Thalia sighed. "Fine. But don't think I'm going to let you go around rating people's… you know what's."

Allie had to resist the chortle that rose up in her chest. "Pity," she said sarcastically. "I'm not that evil and you know it."

Thalia shrugged. "Well, you either got Artemis's blessing a while ago or you just naturally glow silver. I assume that means you're not a total idiot."

Allie smiled cheerily. "Yeah, true. Well, not really true. Chaos blessed me," Allie lied. "So I have silvery blood."

Thalia looked interested. "So that's basically a rank below the Olympians?" She asked. "You know, gold, silver?"

Allie shook her head immediately. "I have platinum blood. That makes it a few ranks higher than the Olympians. I said it was silvery, not actually silver. Perhaps you're getting dizzy because you love the evil imp so much."

Thalia facepalmed. "I hate you."

"Aw, I love you too Thalia," Allie cooed.

She rolled her eyes. "So if you're higher rank then the gods, why are you summoning me coco?" Allie raised her eyebrows, trying not to make her confusion evident.

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

Thalia shrugged. "I have to bow down to my dad." She pointed out. "Just cause' he's king of the gods. You're like, not, egotistical? I don't know how else to put it. I wasn't exactly a straight A student."

Allie smirked. "Then too bad you have no idea what - " She let out some creative choice words for the king of the gods, "means. Pity."

Thalia chuckled. "You know, you're not so bad. I thought you'd be more prissy. Stuck up." She made a face. "Still a little girly but eh, can't have everything."

Allie wrinkled her nose and made an idiotic expression. "Thalia," she said pretentiously. "I order you to fetch my chamomile tea, with my favorite drakon skin teapot."

Thalia rolled her eyes. "After making me look like a tomato for ten minutes straight? I think not."

Allie giggled again. "Speaking of such, how many children do you want to have with - "

" _Nope!_ " Thalia bellowed. "We are _not_ going _there_ again. I just escaped, for the love of the gods." Allie snorted.

"And clearly you love the gods so much," she agreed. Thalia just scoffed. They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, pointing out different stars.

"That's Orion." Allie purposefully pointed at the wrong stars.

"Actually, that's Orion," Thalia argued, pointing at a different constellation.

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is _not._ "

"Is _too._ "

"Actually never mind," Allie conceded. "Just wanted to see how well Artemis trained her lieutenant." Thalia smirked.

"Told ya," she said cheerfully.

Allie winced. "I see grammar wasn't included."

"Nope," Thalia said, popping the 'p' obnoxiously.

Allie sighed. "Well at least there are a few people who don't like Annabeth. Want another hot coco?"

Thalia looked at her with a kicked expression. "Well, duh..."

Allie rolled her eyes. "You're a polar bear on thin ice," she pointed out. "Sometime, I might just _snap_!" At that last word, she summoned some water from the arctic ocean and dumped it on her friend.

Coco forgotten, Thalia's blue eyes were suddenly alive with electricity. " _Run._ " she hissed.

Allie shrieked with laughter as Thalia tackled her to the ground, tickling her sides like mad. In this way, Damien and Thals were practically identical. She just couldn't stop giggling.

"S-stop-p T-tha-alia s-stop-p," she managed to splutter, laughing so hard she felt as if she would be sick. "S-s-stop-p!" Thalia tickled her harder, and Allie screamed, trying to stop giggling. Tears leaked out of her eyes.

She pouted, looking at Thalia with eyes reminiscent to a baby seal. _Thank you for the ultimate weapon, Damien_ , she thought, inwardly smirking.

Thalia, however, wasn't fazed. She just kept tickling Allie wildly. "Damnit," Allie gasped, her ribcage spasming as she laughed. "S-stup-pid, did-dn't w-work, _urgh_."

The person who said laughing was contagious was apparently, correct. Thalia eventually had to stop as she too had caught the giggles. They collapsed on the ground, still bursting into little fits of laughter every few seconds as they looked at one another.

"That was f-fun," Thalia giggled uncontrollably. "I haven't had that much fun in a-ages."

Allie shoved her playfully. "Speak for yourself, I think you killed a few of my ribs."

They exchanged a glance and burst into giggles again.

"This is a vicious cycle," Allie observed, her chest aching.

"Agreed," Thalia said tiredly. Allie yawned and flashed them back to their individual beds.

 _Night,_ she sent telepathically.

 _Night, Allie._

\- Linebreak -

Allie smirked.

It had been a few days since the argument with Damien and she didn't feel quite so apologetic anymore. After checking that he had made it back in one piece, she began to think his anger was inessential.

She was currently watching in barely concealed amusement as Thalia, who had opened up rapidly over the past week, hung from a tree with a cross expression.

"Allie. Allie. Allie. Alllllie," she chanted repetitively. She was waving her arms around as if this would be the action to convince her friend to let her down.

Allie ignored her dutifully.

"Alllllllllllllllie." Thalia pleaded. "All the blood's rushing to my head. You are _such_ an idiot. Let me down!"

Allie's smirk enlarged. "And calling me an idiot totally makes me want to release you."

"Really?" Thalia said hopefully.

"No."

"Damnit. I had to try though," she pointed out. Her arms were hanging straight down and she was almost to the ground. Allie quickly used her powers to reinforce the knot, making Thalia scowl petulantly.

Allie nodded, still trying not to smile so hard. "I'll give you that." Thalia flailed for a few more seconds, looking less grumpy and more irritated. The rope swayed slightly, and Allie struggled against bursting into fits of laughter.

"Allie Something Chaos!" She bellowed. "You let me down from this tree or I… um..."

Allie didn't think her mouth could stretch further. "You'll what?" She teased mercilessly. "You'll order your Leo-Pie to attack me?"

"Uggghhhhh." Thalia let out a loud moan.

As if by some sort of miracle, Leo came into the woods. He eyed them with a sort of wary curiosity. He had finally changed out of those disgusting rags, and (much to Artemis's disgust) Allie had summoned him some hunter esque gear.

She looked proudly at her handiwork, promising herself she would get Reyna and him together at some point. She walked up to him, ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Valdez," she greeted cheerfully.

"Speak of the devil," Thalia muttered. Leo looked slightly frightened at the look on her face. He started to back away, his steps slow and precise as if he was afraid to wake her.

"I'll just be going then," he said weakly. "See you..."

" _No!_ " Thalia screeched. "Valdez, I swear, you better get me out of here or I will fry you alive!" Leo looked from Allie to Thalia. This pattern was only broken a full twenty seconds later when Thalia fixed him with a glare.

"Sorry, Grace. Allie scares me more." He shrugged and slowly inched backwards, his eyes never leaving the horrified expression on Thalia's face.

"Valdez! Valdez, get back here! _Valdez!_ " And he was gone. Thalia groaned loudly.

"This is your fault you know," she pointed out. "Let me down. Don't be such a monster." A vision flashed in Allie's vision and she staggered slightly into the tree. Something tightened in her chest and for a moment she forgot how to breathe. With a wave of her hand, the ropes flew away and Thalia dropped to the ground with a thud.

"Well, _ouch_." She said, rubbing her head. She caught a look of Allie's expression. "Allie… Hey Allie? I didn't mean to offend you or anything… I was kidding."

Allie nodded numbly. A wave of dizziness hit and she suddenly felt rather ill. "I think I'll just go to help some of the younger girls train, Thalia. Don't worry, I'm not mad or anything. It's just..." She attempted to search for a word, "Memories." _Congratulations on the worst lie of the year, Atalanta._

This gained a slow nod from Thalia. "I get it," she said, still looking confused. "See you, I guess." Allie felt a surge of self-hatred for a second before crushing it mercilessly. She stumbled along the small stream as she quickly forced herself in the opposite direction of her friend.

" _No!" The small child's cry was a piercing falcon's note above the clouds. She clamped her hand firmly around the boy's mouth, cursing at the sound._

No. Not now. Please not now, Allie thought desperately.

" _Don't..." His twelve year old sister whispered, restrained behind her. "Don't kill him. He's four. He's innocent." Allie bit her lip. If she abandoned her mission here, he had a fate worse than death._

 _She raised her arm to freeze the boy, but he continued to squirm in her arms. His wide green eyes were wide with horror and his mouth open in a silent scream._

" _Shh," she whispered quietly. "I can't let you live, sweetheart. I can't, and I'm sorry. But the gods will find you, and they will torture you. I'm giving you a way out."_

 _He seemed to understand, but the fear didn't lessen. Allie kissed his forehead tenderly, and the words came pouring out as if her mouth had a mind of it's own. She owed it to him. She owed this child an explanation for the atrocity she was about to commit._

" _Sweetheart, you're daddy is called Apollo. He's the god of prophecies. He gave you one, a long time ago. You're only four, but imagine a hundred of your lifespan. That's how long. That's how special you are."_

 _The tiny boy seemed to fight harder at the mention of his father. Allie regretfully silenced his wails and froze his small flailing limbs. Guilt weighed more heavily than anything she had ever done before._

" _I know you don't even know what the heck I'm talking about, and probably think I'm crazy, but if they find you, they're gonna hurt you really badly. And it's much worse than a pill. It's painless, I swear."_

 _The boy just looked at her with a sweet innocence that made her want to cry._

" _If they go into your mind, they will tear it apart to find this prophecy. It's deep in your consciousness," she attempted to explain. "They would have found it eventually."_

 _His sister sobbed, straining desperately against the ropes that held her to the wall. "Please," she whimpered. "I'll do anything. I'll kill somebody else. Just don't kill him. Not my James."_

 _Allie didn't listen. "Sweetheart," she whispered. "If the gods find this, they won't only kill you. They'll kill all of your brothers and sisters. That's why Apollo tried to delay this prophecy. It says that one day, Zeus will be killed by a child of Apollo. He'll kill_ you _. Do you understand why I'm doing this? Sweetheart, this is the fast way to Elysium. I've talked to Charon, you'll get into heaven straight away."_

 _His sister screamed, trying to reach him. Allie slowly undid the silencing spell and was shocked to find that he didn't struggle. He stared earnestly up at her, and his voice was slightly cracked._

" _I have a daddy?" He asked quietly. Each word seemed to puncture Allie's heart._

" _Yes," she whispered. "You have a daddy. I swear it on the Styx." Thunder rumbled in the distance. "His name is Apollo. You have seventeen demigod siblings and they all would have loved you." His eyes got slightly misty, but his sister refused to listen._

" _Let him go!" She snarled viciously. "I will kill you! Let him go! Jamie, she's lying! She's a_ liar _! Don't listen to a single word that comes out of her stupid mouth. You tell her she's crazy and to go away!"_

 _With eyes unusually intelligent for his age, he held out his palm expectantly. Allie's eyes widened, but she slowly produced the pill from her shirt pocket. There was a moment of silence as she gently placed it in his open hand._

"Jamie! _" The girl shrieked, absolute terror coursing through her eyes. "Don't do it. Don't you_ dare _fucking listen to her. You fight it, Jamie. She's put some magic on you. Kill her!"_

 _Jamie looked at his sister. "I believe it," he said simply. "That one eyed man at the train station? The five horned bull in the hotel? Nothing else makes sense." There was deafening silence._

" _Jamie." The girl said, trying to steady her voice. "I am your sister. Trust me. She's one of_ those _creatures. Take that knife I found and_ stab her. _"_

 _He just looked at her with a knowing look in his eyes. "I love you Kirst."_

 _And he swallowed the pill._

 _The girl tried to scream but it came out as more of a moan. "No," she gasped. "No, no, no… James... " The little boy's body sank to the ground after a second, a purple dot forming at the tip of his middle finger._

 _Dead. He was dead. A pressure expanded on Allie's chest and realization seemed to slowly sink in. She had been preparing herself for the mission for months. She had thought she could get through it easily. She retched a few times but nothing came out._

 _What had she done?_

 _She waved her hands and the ropes holding his sister captive dissolved into nothing. She crawled forward and clutched her brother's body and cried silently._

" _Monster." The muffled whisper came from the boy's clothing._

" _What?" Allie asked hoarsely, still trying to figure out how to force air into her lungs. She sat weakly on the floor, her legs splayed uselessly out in front of her._

" _Monster," the sister repeated. "_ Monster. _" Allie's throat closed up even more than it had been._

" _I'm sorry," she whispered again. "I'm so, so sorry." Despite her best efforts, tears ran unashamedly down her face._

" _You took everything!" The girl shrieked. "I have nothing… I would have given my life… All I wanted was for him to be safe..." Her voice broke. "You took him from me. He was too innocent, too good. I know I didn't deserve him and I owed it to him to be the best big sister I could have been."_

 _She turned to Allie, rage starting to gleam in her eyes._

" _I failed. I failed because of_ you _." She hissed. "You, with all you're pathetic talk of the gods, as if anyone cared enough about either of us. You say his father was a god?"_

" _Your father was a god," Allie barely got the words out. "You are a daughter of Apollo."_

 _She paled even more, rising to her feet. "It should have been_ me _! YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED ME!" She was screaming by that time, her teeth bared in rage._

 _Allie backed away, but couldn't bring herself to flash back to her apartment. Not just yet._

" _Here," she offered quietly, drawing fifteen grand out of thin air. "Take it. I'm sorry about your brother."_

 _This, if anything, enraged her even more. "You're paying me? You're paying me for my brother's death?" Her expression turned murderous. "I'll kill you," she said, backing away and reaching for her knife. "I will slit your throat and feel the blood oozing over my hands and know that I've finally avenged my brother."_

 _Her golden hair was matted and so caked with dirt from the scuffle that it was barely recognizable as blonde. Her green eyes, so similar to that of the boy's made Allie's heart crack slightly more._

 _Allie slowly walked backwards, leaving the money on the ground. The girl advanced, a strange familiarity in her walk. It was almost as if she had met her before._

 _Allie teleported slowly, her guilt so great she couldn't even concentrate on picturing her room. The girl leapt forwards with a snarl, only to pass through Allie's translucent hologram as the teleportation started to work._

" _I'm sorry," Allie breathed._

" _I'll find you," the girl screamed, "I_ will _kill you. I will avenge my Jamie. My Jamie. YOU KILLED MY JAMIE! You're a monster!" She bellowed. "A MONSTER!"_

Allie woke with a start, surprised to find a pressure at her throat. She froze as she felt the familiar sting of cold metal millimeters from her neck. Tears ran down her face and onto the weapon at her throat.

The arrowhead poked directly under her jaw and Allie looked straight into the eyes of her attacker. Kirsten. Her friend. Question marks popped up in her head immediately.

"Atalanta," she hissed dangerously. "Hello again."

Allie didn't dare move, knowing that however fast she could teleport, the girl had been trained by Artemis and would shoot without hesitation.

"Kirsten," she murmured, absolutely abhorring how weak her voice sounded after the flashback. She was pale and shivering, there was no way she had the power to kill Kirsten at this point. "What are you doing? I'm Allie. Nobody's replaced me."

Her jaw clenched so hard her teeth seemed to crack. "Believe me, I know."

Allie was taken aback. She studied the hunter carefully, confused and betrayed at her behavior. Kirsten had never even shown a hint that she hated her. Allie held her head up proudly.

"Then kill me," she said coldly, looking at the girl's face. She refused to look like a coward in her last moments.

"I will," the girl promised, surprising her slightly, "But it's going to be much more painful that a blade, Atalanta." Allie absolutely loathed the way her name flowed from the girl's lips. She snarled it as if it was the vilest world ever to be created.

"What did I ever do to you?" Allie asked, tasting salt as her tears inadvertently flowed into her mouth. Kirsten's hands shook and it only took a few seconds for Allie to identify rage.

"I bet you forgot, didn't you?" She spat at her. "You forgot all about what you did to me." Allie barely had time for her facial expressions to form a confused one before Kirsten slashed a shallow wound at the base of her throat with a pocket knife.

She bound Allie's mouth so she couldn't speak. As discreetly as she could, Allie sent the alert signal on her watch. The Guardians would be here in fifteen minutes, give or take a few. She prayed Kirsten hated her enough to keep her distracted.

"I was hunting a boar when I heard you. Our guardian, passed out by the river. I picked you up and carried you over to the tree when I heard a noise. You were mumbling. And you know what you said?"

Allie managed to shake her head mutely.

"You know what the fuck you said?" Kirsten screamed at her, tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had a sudden insane aura around her. "You said, 'Take the pill, James'. And that's when I recognized you. The bitch I had been hunting for five hundred years. The bitch that killed my brother!"

Kirsten punched her and Allie moaned, still reeling from the shock. She could feel the blood rushing to her face and struggled to move her hands, protect herself, do something, but knew that deep down, she deserved it.

 _Allie had murdered her four year old brother._

" _I love you Kirst."_ The line suddenly made sense. The pieces of the shattered glass frame pieced awkwardly together until it formed a demented picture.

"You're Kirst," she said numbly.

"You're wrong. You are so fucking wrong it's unbelievable. I haven't been 'Kirst' since Jamie died. I put on a smile, but it's not the _same._ There was something different, something off about you, and I pretended to be incredibly happy just like you expected, like the bastard you call my father." Her lower lip was trembling.

"Kirst is gone. _That_ girl is far gone. Congratulations Allie," she said brokenly. "You killed two kids that day." With another scream, Kirsten stabbed right below her left elbow. The knife dug into her flesh and she could feel the burning pain traveling through her veins.

"I'm so sorry," Allie said, crying silently. She felt as if she would split apart. "I am so, _so_ sorry."

"You are _not_ forgiven!" Kristen bellowed. "By the time the sun sets today, I will have finally avenged my brother and your body will be a broken mess on the floor." She stalked towards Allie sadistically.

 _Damien, hurry,_ Allie sent telepathically, the wounds making her incapable of gaining strength, much less using the elements.

 _Please, please hurry._


	12. Chapter 12

Allie closed her eyes, feeling the repetitive punching fade into nothing. The pain was so intense it was as if every pore in her body was weeping silver blood. Allie blinked past the metallic substance and tried to save the little strength she had.

She was half primordial and wasn't about to be defeated by a mere hunter of Artemis. Subconsciously, her elemental powers started to heal the cuts on her body leaving long white scars.

Allie moaned in quiet relief. Kirsten was too involved in her frenzied rage to notice as she used Allie as punching practice. Allie's leg broke with a crack and she gasped as the red-hot pain seared through her bones. That, she needed medical attention for.

 _Hurry… Hurry… Anybody…_

Kirsten's only response was a smile, her teeth already bloody from when she had wiped her face. She had left Allie's face uncovered so that she could see the agony she inflicted on her.

"Jamie," she muttered quietly again.

"I'm not perfect," Allie hissed back. "I was assigned a mission. I had no choice!" Kirsten fixed her with a look of such concentrated hatred that Allie physically shuddered. She slapped her, leaving a bright red handprint on the right side of her face.

"There - is - always - a - choice!" She emphasized each word with a hook to the face. Allie was beyond grateful for the spell that prevented any other than her from taking her hood off. She could barely move her mouth from the bruising.

She felt the blood seep into her hair but couldn't muster up the strength to touch her tongue to the phoenix on her wrist.

 _Help me. I'm dying. Damien… help me. Luke… somebody…_

Allie screamed as the bone in her other leg shattered. She shuddered and sank onto the mossy floor as she struggled to support herself. She like an absolute idiot for putting the sound ward up. She had thought it would prevent her sobs during the vision, not silence her cries while her body was slowly mangled.

"Stop it," Allie yelled at her, her voice slightly gurgled by the blood in her throat. "Stop it Kirsten! It was a mistake! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry but there's nothing I can do about it now! Stop punishing me for something I punished myself for, for _decades_!"

Kirsten slowly leaned closer to her, tinges of madness in her gaze. "It's. Not. Enough." she breathed. "Can't you get that through your fucking brain? Nothing you ever do will be enough!" She slammed Allie's head back against the tree trunk and left her seeing stars.

Allie moaned as she felt another gash open up on her head. It was everywhere, the blood running down her chest, down her legs, down her stomach.

Somehow seeing the silver didn't seem quite as disturbing as the red splatters on the dead bodies she had examined in her previous missions.

 _I deserve this,_ she thought.

"How about I make a notch?" Kristen hissed. "A notch for every child you've murdered. It only took, what, one hour to convince my brother to kill himself. How many hours have you lived?" She struck Allie's spine with the hilt of her bow and Allie gasped, tears finally appearing in the corners of her eyes.

It took an arrow to the shoulder until she truly screamed. She finally relented, letting loose all her hatred at the girl, as she fired arrow after arrow into Allie's body.

Allie just wept. Because she knew that she deserved it, every bit of blood spilt and every bit of pain withstood.

There was a sudden roar. Allie stumbled to her feet and caught blurry flashes of vision. Blonde hair and a dagger - August. Allie slowly dropped to her knees, feeling horribly cold. She shivered uncontrollably, unaware of the yells permeating her quiet mindscape. Terrifyingly frozen.

There was a moment where nobody seemed to breathe. And then she sank gratefully into unconsciousness, leaving her August with one last message:

 _Don't hurt her. We've got history._

\- Linebreak -

August ran wildly, his heart beating so fast he felt as if it would explode out of his chest. He could smell the blood in the air and sensed the sound ward from miles away. He burst into the clearing, spotting his sister splayed on the floor in a pool of her own blood. She blinked a few times, as if trying to comprehend who he was.

Atalanta was bleeding from several wounds: head wound, spinal injury, broken legs and a gash in her arm that almost penetrated fully through. He also noted that her entire face was black, likely the product of the repetitive punching the female was giving her.

August bellowed in rage, launching himself at the girl who dared to attack her. He let loose a flurry of blows, the moral lesson to never hit a woman suddenly seeming null and void.

He was about to crush her windpipe when he heard the whispered message.

 _Don't hurt her. We've got history._

He clenched his teeth together, his hands shaking desperately as he forced down his bloodlust. Kicking her one more time, he hovered over her unconscious body and contacted Artemis, screaming at her at the top of his lungs.

" _Artemis!_ " He roared, unsurprised when she appeared with her bow drawn.

"What is it _boy_?" She sneered at him. Her eyes widened as she spotted her huntress on the floor. She let out a breath as she noticed the bruising on her arms.

"What have you done to Kristen?" She demanded murderously, but August raised a hand. She didn't sheath her arrow and lit aflame with her godly powers. August eyed the greek fire in disgust, sucking the air out of the flame and watching it distinguish.

"With absolutely no respect, Lady Artemis, I want you to take the scum you call your sister and leave before I give into my instincts and kill her." With one arm, he dragged her limp body upright and thrusted her into Artemis's arms.

"You - you're just giving her to me? Why did you hurt her?" Artemis still sounded angry, but perhaps slightly less so. Confusion clouded her eyes and she turned around to see what he was staring at.

"A-Allie? Fucking males! Gods, _Atalanta!_ " She rushed to her side, almost dropping Kristen in her rush. "This can't be right… what's going on? Atalanta can protect herself! Why didn't she fight back?"

Artemis turned to August, shielding Allie with her own body. "You did this to her, boy! Leave before I force you to!" August could taste Artemis's fear, it radiated from her body endlessly. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. It was clear she knew he was a Guardian and could overpower her in an instant.

"No," he snarled. "I didn't do this. She did." He pointed to the body in her arms. "I was called here by Allie, saying she was going to _die_. I rescued her right before that bitch could do her in. Allie stopped me from killing her, and I didn't. _Get out of my sight before I change my mind_."

"K-Kirsten?" Artemis managed shakily, before August waved his hand and they vanished. He rushed over to his fallen friend, cupping her face in horror as he realized the extent of her injuries.

"Hospital," he muttered. "Now." He disappeared in a flash, and the only thing that remained was the stench of the silver blood oozing down the bark of the tree.

\- Linebreak -

Allie woke slowly. She started to feel each limb at a time, tentatively raising each leg and determining that it wasn't broken. She stretched, feeling surprisingly better than she had in a long time.

Allie yawned blearily and stumbled out of the bed, through the door, and into the hallway. Raised voices immediately hit her eardrums and she realized she'd just wandered into a sound ward.

"You're a fucking asshole!" August roared, shoving him back. He didn't seem to care that Damien was half-primordial, or that he could disintegrate him with a single flick of his wrist.

Damien himself was looking petrified, his face a mixture of heavy guilt and revulsion.

"I-I'm sorry," he said confusedly. "I didn't mean to, I don't know what happened. It's all, blurry. I don't remember anything."

A small tornado whipped itself up in August's hand. "Well, get your fucking act together and act like it!"

Damien spotted her out of the corner of his eye. "Als," he said, looking stricken, "You're up." She was about to respond when August latched himself onto her arm.

"We were just going," he said firmly.

Allie glowered at him. "I can speak for myself, thanks," she snapped. "I don't need you being the protective older brother right now, okay? I can take care of myself."

"That much is clear, seeing as I had to drag a deranged huntress of you and put you in critical condition at the hospital," he snarled back.

Allie flinched.

"I didn't mean that," August hastily apologized. "I'm sorry. Um… Ice cream?"

"Ice cream doesn't solve everything, August!" She growled, slapping him across the face and teleporting away with a snap. There was an awkward silence as Damien and August slowly realized they had no idea where she had gone.

Allie arrived in her tent at the hunters' camp, she observed all her new scars and tried to ignore the tears in her eyes as she changed into a fresh pair of clothes.

"Artemis," she said after a few minutes of observing her friend. The huntress jumped, her arrow aimed at Allie in a second.

"Allie," she greeted. Her eyes widened for a second as she recounted the last time she had seen the teenager. "Oh gods, _Allie_!"

She ran up to her and immediately began checking her open wounds. Allie stepped back to avoid her fussing.

"Artemis," she smiled weakly. "I'm fine. I need to speak with Kirsten please… I won't hurt her, I promise," she added after seeing Artemis's expression. "I just need to wipe her memories. I did something to wrong her years ago and she hasn't forgotten."

Artemis bit her lip. "These things never end well," she sighed. "Even as gods, you have to be careful who you kill or maim. Things can have disastrous repercussions." She met her eyes evenly, and Allie realized she already knew what she had done to James.

"You- you don't hate me?" She asked quietly.

"Not in the least. I knew Kirsten for a long time, but I had never pictured her as one with a… fetish for torture. I promised my sister when we found you I would kill you myself. Cleanly. I'm afraid she broke that promise. You're really lucky you're not male, I would not have been _nearly_ as sympathetic."

Allie forced a smile on her face. "Where is she?" She asked curiously, and Artemis pointed to a small black tent with a large X painted in black on it.

"She is bound. I explained to the other huntresses what she had done and that I had used my godly powers to sense she was lying in her explanation. They've been going in and talking to her sometimes. It was hard to get over her betrayal, especially since it was from a sister they trusted."

Allie nodded, her heart expanding with understanding. "I completely agree," she said gently. "That's the worst kind." Without another word, she nodded respectfully and set out towards the tent.

She hesitantly drew the flaps of the shelter inside and stepped inside.

"Kirsten?" She asked quietly. "Kirsten, where are you?" A movement in the corner made her leap back. The black figure slowly raised her head, letting Allie see the bruises.

"Gods, Kirsten, give me a sign before jumping out at me like that!" Allie sighed, touching her face gently and sending her powers to fade the bruises to a dull yellow.

"What do you want?" Kirsten spat, tearing her face away from Allie's hands. "Come to gloat?" Allie shook her head fervently. She wanted to believe she was stronger than this, and wasn't taking the coward's way out.

She waved her hands and Kirsten's eyes became glassy and unfocused. "Leave all memories intact except the ones of your brother's murder and hunting her. Remove all feelings of hatred towards Atlanta Chaos and her brother's killer."

She hesitated for a second, and then agreed she was doing the girl a favor.

"Your brother was in a coma for a year before you released him into death's peaceful arms. You got to say goodbye to James, and he loved you very much."

Her arm finished the arc over Kirsten's head, and the girl blinked once or twice. "Allie? Wait, why am I here? Are these ropes? Why on earth… Oh… oh goodness… _I attacked you_!"

Her hands shook, her entire body trembling. "Oh gods… You're here to kill me, aren't you? I'm sorry. I don't know why I did it… I have no reason to."

 _You had one of the best reasons I'd ever heard,_ Allie thought regretfully.

"I'm afraid you were possessed by a minion of Order. The assassin he had sent was one with a particular vendetta against me. She failed in her mission because she waited too long to slit my throat. Perhaps that was your will inside, fighting her off." Allie give a wry grin.

"Really, Kirsten, I must thank you. The woman is now dead, dispelled from your body as if a memory. Your sisters will untie you as soon as I leave, I just wanted to talk to you and explain what was going on. We were afraid her spirit was still inside you when we tied you up, we're very sorry for that."

She nodded, still looking incredibly horrified. "I'm so sorry Allie, I can't believe..." She wrung her hands together miserably, "That… that woman forced my body to do those things! That's just awful. I'm sorry all the same."

Allie felt even more self-hatred build up as the girl continued to apologize for something Allie absolutely had to pay for. She gave a tight smile. "It's no problem Kirsten. I know what you mean, revenge is a repulsive, never ending game."

Kristen nodded slightly, looking confused at her choice in words. A sudden thought seemed to strike her and she looked almost secretive as she asked her question.

"What did you do to the assassin?" She whispered, "To make her want to hurt you so bad?" Allie stopped, just about to exit the tent.

"I-I took someone very important to her," Allie stammered quietly. "I will never be able to earn her forgiveness, simply because I don't deserve it." She refused to look at the girl in ropes as she forced the words through her bitter lips.

"I think you do," Kirsten replied, slightly louder. "Look at the forgiveness you showed me… I attacked you. And I'm not dead. Thank you, sister." She bowed her head. "I won't forget this."

Allie backed away, feeling like a deer trapped in the blinding headlights of shame. "I-I… I gotta go," she mumbled before rushing out of the tent.

Kirsten gave a small smile, fingering the tiny charm that was her earring. The small bead didn't seem to resemble anything much, but a closer look revealed a crisp O carved into the silver.

"Thank you Master," she breathed, recording her voice in the other earring. "The protection spell worked. By sundown, every hunter will think me innocent, and one of your assassins guilty." She gave a little giggle, her eyes alight with insanity.

"I love you, Master, for giving me this chance to kill Atalanta Chaos." She gave another cruel giggle, her mouth curled in a wild grin. After a few seconds, she shook her head. Widening her eyes slightly, she pasted on the face she had worn for over five centuries. Her cruel smile softened, revealing her pearly white teeth and her eyes crinkled slightly at the corners.

"I will see you next week, Master, with her body. Her mother, I assume will be taken care of then?" She cut off the recorded message, pressing the little red button on the back of the device. _Send._ She opened and closed her mouth slightly, preparing to reassume the role that was Kirsten Jones.

\- Linebreak -

The girl was thanking her for killing her brother! Taking her memories of the event, and her hope of killing his murderer, all in one! She felt like the biggest liar ever to walk the planet. Allie retched, trying to keep her lunch down, but ultimately failed.

She wiped her mouth in disgust, her eyes burning with contempt. She _was_ a monster. Allie needed Kirsten's forgiveness, not the other way around.

She almost puked again and cursed her fragile stomach. A voice behind her made her spin around, knives drawn as she struggled not to trip in her upchuck.

"Allie," Artemis murmured gently. "Are you alright?"

Seeing it was just Artemis, she found a tree stump by the edge of the camp at took a seat. Allie rested her elbows on her knees and stared at the ground, unsure of what to do without letting Artemis see the misery behind her cheerful words.

"Of course, Artemis," Allie said, with a small smile. "Everything's fine and took care of Kirsten. She now believes that an assassin of Order attacked her, took possession of her body, and forced her to kill me."

She looked at Artemis pleadingly. "Could you spread that around please? And also tell Thalia that I don't really want to talk about it."

Artemis studied her for a second, then nodded briskly. "Thank you… Thalia, she's been much happier lately, and I believe it's because of you. I hope she finally can find a sister in you that she couldn't in Annabeth."

\- Linebreak -

Allie raised the bow, tightened the drawstring… with a sharp crack, the second arrow embedded itself in the first.

"Wow," said Leo, wide eyed. "You know, this isn't convincing me that you're her. The Pipes I knew, well, she thought that a bow was only useful for - "

"Hitting things with," Allie finished, smirking. "Yeah, I know."

He raised his eyebrows. "Hey, I guess the hooded person does know some things about her," he said, also grinning wildly. He was still dressed in his ridiculous 'Male Hunter Outfit' (MHO for short, which Allie had to beg Artemis not to shoot him for) and had perched some strange orange sunglasses on his head (which Allie also had to tell Artemis not to kill him for).

He grinned. "Here, let me try." Without further ado, he grabbed the bow and attempted to notch an arrow.

"No!" Allie exclaimed, "Leo, don't - " He shot the bow, "Fire..." she finished. The arrow vanished somewhere off in the distance.

"Oops," he said sheepishly. "Was I not supposed to do that?"

Allie rolled her eyes. "No, Leo, you were not." She quickly created a barrier around him, and sure enough, a total of seven arrows came from the area his arrow had vanished. They bounced off the protective shield, and fell onto the grass, charred.

"Oh.." he said weakly.

"Yeah, _oh_ ," she responded. "Don't do that again, one of these days the hunters are going kill you."

"Aw," he responded, a cheeky look on his face. "I didn't know you cared, Als."

Her face fell slightly at the nickname. I had been a full five days and Damien still refused to talk to her. From what she had heard at the hospital, he somehow blamed himself for her injuries. She shook her head, resolving to talk to him at the next Guardian get-together. Perhaps over ice cream.

"Yeah," she said quickly, dispelling her thoughts. "Wait, I mean no," she corrected as Leo started cracking up. "I don't care about stupid crazy elves at all."

She couldn't help it, and after a second, joined him in laughter. That was how Thalia found them a few minutes later as she walked in, also there to practice her archery.

"Oi! Valdez!" She barked. He shot up, looking amused.

"Hey Thals," he said cheerfully. Thalia shot him a look reminiscent to someone who hadn't gotten any sleep in the past 48 hours. Which, coincidentally, Thalia hadn't.

"Allie," she said, slightly less grumpily. "Hi."

"Hey," Allie responded, still trying not to chuckle at her expression. Honestly, it was times like these she wondered why she was reduced to a giggling mess every time she saw her old friends.

Thalia ignored Leo, trying to fight her own smile as he looked at Allie with a dramatic expression.

"No!" He cried, pretending that tears were running down his face. "My dear Thali-Pie is ignoring me! The horror! The _horror_!"

The smile died on her face and she stalked towards Leo.

"What, did you just call me?" She demanded.

"Miss Most-Powerful-Person-Ever-After-Allie?" He didn't look the least bit intimidated, and after a while, Thalia seemed to decided that it wasn't a terrible tragedy.

She sniffed, but the smile was back. "Fine. I can accept that."

"Yes, Thali-Pie," he muttered mock-dejectedly. Thalia decided to ignore his last comment and took the range by Allie, starting to shoot at the target. She groaned in frustration as the arrow missed the bull's eye by a millimeter. Rolling her eyes, she drew a gun from her belt and started shooting bullets instead.

"Wow," Allie said as her eyebrows rose in genuine surprise. "I didn't know the hunters were already practicing guns before I let you borrow mine."

"We weren't," Thalia responded, shooting with perfect aim and creating small holes in the center of the targets. Allie motioned to the bull's eye in disbelief, Leo also looking rather gobsmacked.

"Well, the hunter have been practicing," Thalia pointed out. "We're not total idiots. And also," she added, seeing as Allie's jaw was almost touching the ground, "You still haven't taken back the blessing you gave us. We can feel the wind guiding each bullet to its center."

Allie sighed. "Thank Chaos. You know how long it took me to do that without _magic_? Years! And for you to get it in a matter of months?" She let out a loud groan. "Frankly, that's an insult to every Guardian."

Thalia just flipped the spot where her hair would have been if it were shoulder length. "Ha," was all she said, looking slightly more awake. She started firing more bullets, each one hitting directly in the middle.

"Why doesn't it work for your arrows?" Allie wondered.

Thalia raised an eyebrow for a second, but seemed to understand. "I think it's because you only had bullets in mind when you gave us a bit of your accuracy. So we're completely on our own for arrows."

Allie shrugged. "That sucks. It's a shame I can only bless you once."

Thalia nodded in agreement, crossing her eyes and giving a little snort as she mimicked Allie's disappointed face. Allie couldn't help but laugh at the abnormal expression on the normally collected Lieutenant.

"Well done," Allie smirked. "Very well done." They only noticed later that Leo had fallen asleep in a patch of sunlight and green grass. This, obviously caused Allie to place a shadow over him, making him wake up with a glare.

The three spent the rest of the afternoon trying to used different types of weapons against Allie, and all of them failing. Miserably. But all in all, Allie decided that it was a good day.

\- Linebreak -

Allie gazed lazily at the stars, too tired to move. She was in her tent, and had made the top of the barrier translucent so that the stunning view would repeatedly mesmerize her.

She heard a few quiet footsteps outside and tensed, before identifying the aura and sighing in relief. She remained stock still as Kirsten came into the tent. A flick of her finger changed the stars into the regular grey tent as she pretended to be asleep.

She felt Kirsten slink across the room, and for a moment, she felt a flicker of unease. She unintentionally let out a huff as she contemplated Kirsten's loyalty, and the girl froze.

Allie bit her lip, tempted to ask what she was doing. She didn't sense any weapons on her, so she hoped Kirsten had come unarmed.

The girl steadily made her way over to Allie, surprising her by discreetly fastening a cuff on her wrist. Allie waited a few minutes, until she had left, then slowly examined it, turning it from side to side until she saw the small O embroidered into the sleeve.

She shook her head in disgust, forcing the cuff off. It was clearly a power resistor, one meant for a guardian. While it was well made, it didn't have nearly enough power to hold a primordial, not even half of one.

She looked at it closely, wondering how careless Kirsten thought she was. Casting an uneasy barrier around the camp, Allie fell into a deep sleep.

\- Linebreak -

Allie closed her eyes and floated into Morpheus's realm, letting the darkness overwhelm her. To her dismay, a terrible scene unfolded, one that she never wanted to see. Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she realized where she was.

 _A blinding white robe swept through the corridor, one she knew well._

 _"_ _Chaos…" Allie whispered hoarsely, but her voice didn't make a sound. "No."_

Allie knew this was a dream, but she also knew that it was happening in real life, right there, right then. She struggled to wake herself, slapping her cheek, setting her body aflame, but Allie could feel nothing. She was a spirit, simply there in spirit.

 _An demonic, chilling laugh echoed throughout the house, ricocheting on the window frames, and causing a shadow of fear that even Allie could feel in the airy state she was in._

I'm not really here, am I? _She thought to herself._

 _The figure removed his hood, and his silhouette formed a hunched creature. Though his appearance was something different, his voice was raspy and angered. He acted as if he knew this house well - too well for her taste. He kept going; never a break in his stride, until he reached a door, which Allie knew, was the entrance to Chaos's bedroom._

 _He opened it quietly, as if scared of waking someone, or as if preferring to murder in slumber, as not to make a messy job of it. He entered the room, but was obviously troubled about something._

 _He strode in but was clearly surprised with the inside._

 _Lady Chaos sat on the bed, every bit as regal as could be. She looked at Order, turning her head slowly until she was facing him. But there was something different about her eyes, they weren't black like Allie was used to, they didn't have the vortex of power she had become accustomed to seeing._

 _They were just regular brown irises._

 _Her normally combed black hair had faded to a dull brown with a few streaks of grey curled through them. The strands sat messily thrown back over her shoulders, a mess of tangles._

 _"_ _Order." She spoke in her normal voice, but it was different somehow. It had no sense of hate, just bitter acceptance. Her tone was not pleading, not desperate, and Allie felt a rush of pride even though cold hands were prickling down her spine._

What is he going to do to her? _Allie's lower lip trembled at the thought of any harm befalling the only mother figure in her life._

 _Order stalked cruelly across the room, circling Chaos like a hunter does his prey._

 _"_ _Little sister," he sneered. "You are utterly and totally helpless. Where are your friends now? Not so tall and mighty without them, are you…?"_

 _With barely any effort, a knife black as ebony appeared at her neck, flashing hauntingly in the moonlight that filtered through the curtains._

 _Chaos didn't move. She stood straight, her posture as rigid as ever. She refused to back down, in her own way. And it was obvious Order hated her little act of defiance and was determined to humiliate her once more._

 _"_ _Bow down to me, sister." He spat; as if it was the worst thing he could think of. "Surrender, like our puny father did before his end." Her eyes flashed, fury becoming evident at last._

 _"_ _You can hurt me, you may insult me time and time again," she hissed, and he dug the knife in deeper. Allie silently begged her to stop._ Stop goading him _, she pleaded._ He could spare you!

 _But obviously Chaos didn't hear her._

 _"_ _But you may_ not _insult my father, my people, nor my_ family _." The knife began to draw blood and Chaos slowly began to pale, her already worried eyes terrified. Allie didn't understand why, until she saw the color of it._

 _Chaos's blood was normally platinum colored, flowing in little amounts, and Allie had no doubt that Order was the same. But now, the blood was diluted with red, staining his knife a silvery pink._

 _She gave one last laugh, and closed her eyes, smiling._

 _"_ _And you can never get my power, because I don't even have it." She dropped the bomb at last, and Allie shoulders straightened with satisfaction as she saw Order's eyes widen marginally. He looked downwards to see that what his knife was stained with was not even close to silver._

 _He looked at it in confusion before realization dawned on his features._

 _"_ _No," he growled, his voice alight with anger and disappointment. "You didn't."_

 _Chaos didn't even bat an eyelash, keeping her eyes hidden from the world. "Yes." She hissed. "And you will_ never _get them."_

 _And before she could scream, before she could move, the hilt of the knife was sticking out through her throat._

 _"_ _Goodbye my Guardians." She choked, blood gushing from her mouth._

 _She breathed shallowly, her life force ebbing away._

 _"_ _Good luck."_

 _And Chaos's body fell limp._

" _NO_! _" Allie screamed, before she was tugged out of the dream._

She woke with a start.

"No…" Allie repeated to herself, before fully absorbing what she had seen.

"Damien!" She screamed, scanning her surroundings. Allie had a desperate hope that she was back home. In her own house, and not on a _stupid suicide mission_ where she couldn't reach her mentor.

She slowly took in where she was and a cold horror filled her, as if drenched in cold water.

" _Damien_!" She screamed again.

Without a second thought, Allie teleported to Camp Jupiter. She set up a quick barrier around the camp, and promised herself after the mess was cleared up she would return and apologize.

 _Has this already happened? Am I too late?_

But Allie already had a bad feeling. A feeling that melted her core and made terror drench every nerve in her body. She had a nagging suspicion. Her instincts were rarely wrong - and that led her to only one conclusion.

And… and that meant…

Lady Chaos was _dead_.

\- Linebreak -

 **Hello! I know, it's been far too long since I actually wrote an Author's note. I just want to thank all of the people who review and favorite/follow, and let you all know that the more reviews I get the faster I upload. This chapter was a bit of a treat because I got a substantial amount of (see above)... xD Thank you so much for reading, and please (if you want to), review! 3**

 **\- Kathie**


	13. Chapter 13

" _Damien_!" Allie screamed again. "Oh by Chaos..." She tore down his shield with the loophole that he had left her and stormed in.

She rushed into the gates, deflecting all of the arrows shot at her and raced to the only door that looked remotely like the one she had on their home planet.

"Damien!" She screamed. "Damien! Get out here, _now!_ "

A figure stumbled blearily out of the room, his eyes tired and bloodshot. It looked as if he hadn't slept in a month.

"Who's there?" He asked, his eyes slightly damp. "Don't attack or I'll hurt you." His pajamas were black striped pants and a white form fitting shirt. Allie realized he was soaked with sweat as he shivered uncontrollably.

Allie punched him in the face, coating her fingers with icicles and shocking him with the cold. "Wake up!" She snarled, shaking her head madly. "Lady Chaos is _dead!_ She's _dead!_ "

His body instinctively moved into a defensive stance. His eyes finally seemed to catch sight of her and he tensed.

"The ship we sailed," he said cryptically, studying her face intently. He took in her frightened features, combined with the terror and rage that was embedded just below the surface.

"The Argo II," she replied, resisting the urge to utterly melt down. "Damien, it wasn't a dream. She's gone. You feel it too, don't you? The atmosphere, it's just… different."

His adam's apple bobbed. "No," he said, setting his jaw. "It was a _dream_."

Allie pursed her lips and tried to hold back her tears. "It's not, it's _not_. Lady Chaos sent it to us, it was the last thing she could do to warn us." Finally she couldn't help it and burst into tears, ice spikes forming around her as she curled into a ball on the ground. She couldn't help it: it was as if her entire world had collapsed.

The trip to Earth had only brought devastation. She shouldn't have come. Chaos was gone. Her surrogate mother was gone.

Her mother was _gone._

Allie couldn't breathe as rage coursed through every inch of her being. The Amazons had gathered angrily around them, whispering that it was the other Guardian. They didn't seem to care far beyond that, and that alone was fine with Allie.

" _Order!_ " She roared, her eyes a vortex of black magic as her pupils caught fire. " _I will find you._ "

The realization was still sinking in for Damien, and he stumbled until he was sitting on the ground. Still, no tears fell from his eyes as Allie's fury caught on.

With cold anger in his eyes, he waved his hand, teleporting the Amazons to Camp Jupiter. Similarly, Allie transported the hunters to Camp Half-Blood, ignoring their cries of surprise as they found themselves in Artemis's cabin.

Allie didn't think Damien would ever be happy again. The thought alone was enough to push her forward as she disappeared in a inferno of flame with her best friend.

\- Linebreak -

"My Lady!" Thalia cried, finally spotting her sister over the pandemonium. She sprinted across the clearing, slinging her bow hastily over her shoulder.

"Thalia," Artemis said, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Report."

"I've counted most hunters. As far as I know, everyone was there except Kirsten, Lady Artemis. Four are in the cabin and the rest are aiming at the campers. My assumption is that Allie brought us here to be protected - something must have happened."

Artemis nodded gravely. "I agree. You girls get into the cabin and barricade yourselves inside."

"But my Lady!" Thalia protested, her arms crossed stubbornly. "We can help! We didn't train under your tutelage for centuries to be swaddled like children."

"I won't risk my hunters," Artemis snapped fiercely. "By the heavens above, Thalia, you will do as I say." Still glowering, Thalia bowed her head in acceptance.

"It will be done, my Lady." she muttered. "Stay safe, sister." With that, Thalia ran back to the cabin and started barking orders to the rest of the girls. For a few moments, there was raised voices, and defiant glares. Then a crackle of electricity hit the cabin and the girls, with narrowed eyes and angry features, reluctantly walked through the door.

Satisfied, Artemis drew a small rune at the base of the door and activated it with her godly powers. It would be no match for Order, of course, but it would give her hunters time. And by her grandmother she knew they needed it.

She turned back, and bellowed at the top of her voice. " _Enough!_ " Every demigod froze, eyeing her wearily. Girls and boys alike halted in their footsteps to give their attention to the Goddess of the Moon.

"Enough," Artemis repeated with slightly less bite. "I want every possible solider over _ten years of age_ ," she said those words firmly, watching as a small red-headed girl reached for a shield, "to gather their weapons. Those smaller than ten years ..."

She pointed to the Hephaestus cabin, aware of it's magically expanding bunker at the back. "In there. I will cast a shield. I need two volunteers over fifteen years to guard the younger ones."

Not a single hand went up. It was clear the demigods were itching for battle. "Nobody?" Artemis said calmly. "Then the blood will be on all of your hands when they are slaughtered because they have no skills to defend themselves."

She assessed them, her gaze frosty until two hands went up.

"Very well, both of you get in the cabin and protect yourselves." She said, still not raising her voice. "Everyone else, gather your weapons. I believe I've already said this. Do I need to repeat myself a _third time_?"

Everyone, scrambled quickly for their battle armor, disliking the wariness that was in her eyes. Artemis barely acknowledged Chiron as she passed, giving him a cold glare.

"Lady Artemis," he said respectfully.

"Betrayer," she answered spitefully. "Make sure all of the girls and the vermin aren't too badly injured during the battle. I except you not to _sell them out to the enemy_." He flinched.

"Fitting, isn't it?" She growled bitingly and turned away from the mentor who had led his students to their deaths.

Perseus Jackson and Piper McLean.

Artemis started gearing up, thinking of the two martyrs from the Giant War. She filled her bow with arrows, closing her eyes and refueling, so that each arrow disappeared into the bow and stayed in oblivion until called.

Contrary to what her enemies thought, she did not have unlimited arrows, simply had the brainpower to store them and make them appear as if by magic. She scoffed silently at the thought. After about a thousand, she stopped easing them into the bow and grabbed her twin silver daggers, both of them a gift from Atalanta.

She missed the two equally, a surprising comparison seeing as Perseus was very much a male. However, he seemed to defy the logic that was male stupidity. For that, he was not a boy, but a man: a fact that had reluctantly escaped her lips when he was thirteen.

And Ms. McLean. While a daughter of her arch-nemesis, the girl had shown rightful disgust at being the daughter of the Love Goddess and had called her cabin "cool" the first time she had seen it.

In Artemis's mind, that was basically approval.

Though Piper had liked her _half-brother,_ in Elysium she was likely to regret her mistake. However, it wasn't all prejudice, she reminded herself sternly. The only woman Artemis had ever approved of dating a man was Annabeth Chase. And naturally she had to be the only terrible female in the world, breaking the heart of Perseus.

Artemis shook her head wistfully, wishing she could love Annabeth as she loved all of her sisters. She finally finished gathering her weapons, slinging two swords in an X across her back.

She slipped her boots on and her plates of armor were locked in with a _chink_. She shook herself, and then set out to find the other Guardians, who, mysteriously, she hadn't seen previously.

Artemis crept up inside the tent, sensing the loud voices of the Guardians inside. All of them were present, even the ones from Camp Jupiter. Only, there were two missing. Atalanta and Damien.

The hooded figure Atalanta had become something similar to a sister in the past months, and Artemis trusted her as much as she trusted her hunters. Perhaps not as much as her lieutenant, but she was a close second.

She crept closer, subtly penetrating the sound ward. It was unknown to most, but part of her godly powers included runes. That was the only reason that she could listen in undetected, and her grandmother had sworn never to tell a soul. She carefully crept forward, pursing her lips to conceal the gasp at the slight mental pain.

"We have nowhere to go!" August was growling. "Nobody! I can't believe they left!"

"Now, August," Sapphire scolded, slight resentment in her voice as she struggled to defend her fellow Guardian. "I'm sure they had a very good reason. They are both unfalteringly loyal, they'll come through."

"This not happening." Daniel mumbled. "This can't be happening."

His girlfriend (Artemis's nose crinkled in disgust at the word) hugged him around the middle. "I know we'll make it. You know that Atalanta and Damien are probably fighting him now, trying to avenge her."

 _Avenge who?_ Artemis wondered curiously, before deciding that it was none of her business. She didn't mean to pry, just discover what the battle plan was.

August took another breath, seemingly trying to steady himself. "I trained with her personally, she was a wonderful mentor. When she asked me to mentor Damien, I couldn't believe my luck… I just thought she would last forever." Artemis shuffled uncomfortably, feeling as if this was a rather private moment.

The strangely familiar girl, Ziana, nodded, the tears still drying on her cheeks. "She was my second sister," she said in a small voice.

Charlie nodded. "I miss Commander Chaos already. May her spirit guide us from the underworld."

Artemis froze, her body tensing as she finally digested the words. Her small movements stopped as her mouth opened by nothing came out. She tried to form words but her mouth seemed to have lost connection to her brain.

 _They're talking about Chaos._ My _Chaos,_ she thought shakily. She stood up on trembling legs, determined to confront them and learn that they were lying.

 _Grandmama_ , she thought, a sickly feeling rising in her stomach. _Oh, grandmama._ Artemis fell to the floor in a dead faint, her body making a loud thud in the silent room. That was how the Guardians found her, auburn hair splayed around her seven year old form, her pallid arms braced against her chest and teardrops on her eyelashes.

\- Linebreak -

Allie roared with rage, the monsters scattering around her like beetles.

"Where," she had to take a breath, she was shaking with so much anger, " _WHERE IS ORDER_?" The bellow was left unanswered, and she and Damien continued to disintegrate the army, one section at a time.

Ice spikes. Maces of ice. Freezing the insides. 50% gone. Allie's thoughts came in little snippets, her thoughts jumbled until all she could hear was one word, repeated over and over again.

Aether. Aether. Aether.

She would do this, for not only Chaos but Aether.

She let out another battle cry, rushing into the swarm of monsters and freezing them effortlessly. "Where is Order?" She cried again, her voice cracking slightly. " _WHERE IS HE?_ "

Frozen daggers. Snowstorms. Her powers were as murderous as her mood. A blizzard froze the insides of over a thousand monsters, stopping them in their tracks as the life drained slowly from their eyes.

Tears dripped off of her face as she fought, coating herself in an avatar of gleaming ice. She crushed thousands of monsters underfoot before she lost control, her hands spread wide in an arc of destruction as she demolished the remaining monsters.

She sat, her back arched as Damien approached her tentatively. The sense of defeat penetrated the air and Allie felt the fight drain out of her. He rested his right hand gently on the small of her back.

"You want to talk about it?" He murmured gently. Allie wiped away a few tears, sending him a look that was tinged with adoration as she realized how lucky she was to have him.

"I hate how you're so selfless," she said chuckling. "You're not supposed to console me, we're supposed to be grieving together. It's not your job to make sure I'm okay."

He just sighed. "It really is, Allie," he said quietly, wrapping a comforting arm around her. "We stick together, no matter what." She murmured something in contentment, snuggling closer and absentmindedly inhaling his scent.

He smelled like ocean, sand, and most importantly, home.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, in the epicenter of the battle, the golden dust that had originally been Order's army falling to the ground. It was surprisingly beautiful, in a twisted sort of tale.

"She was the only mother I ever had," Allie whispered, finally bringing herself to speak after a few minutes. Damien's arm tightened and he hugged her close. He then kissed the top of her head, a gesture that had often signaled affection in the past time they had spent in the army.

Allie leaned on his shoulder, and in return he rested his head against hers. Allie sniffled slightly, looking into the sunset, thinking about Chaos.

"My first mom, Sally..." Damien started. "I don't know. In my long life, I'd only really known her a small time. But she will always have a decent chunk of my heart."

"Eloquent as always, Damien," Allie murmured, almost smiling.

"It's true," he insisted, moving her head so that he could look straight into her eyes. "I loved her so much that if I could bring her back to life, I wouldn't."

Allie paused, feeling strangely thoughtful. "Why?"

"Because I know she's happy now," he said simply. "Why bring her back to a life of terror, of greed, of _humanity?_ " He shook his head in disgust.

Allie kissed his cheek softly, and was surprised when he blushed. "I'm proud of you," she said tenderly. "You're a better person than I am, and I'll try every day of my life to be more like you."

If anything, he turned an even brighter crimson. "Thanks, Als."

"And I can start by apologizing," Allie continued, trying not to get lost in his sea green orbs. "I'm so sorry for forgetting to tell you about the Arena. It slipped my mind - I turned my watch on silent. I didn't realize you'd go hunting Order just to find me."

Damien rolled his eyes in exasperation. "'Just to find you'? By Chaos, Piper, I'd do anything to make you happy. You know that."

She smiled, a large grin that lit up her entire face. "Thanks _Percy_ ," she said proudly. "Artemis is wrong about every male in the world."

Damien smirked. "Actually, I've defied that expectation. Did I ever tell you about the time I was sent on a quest to rescue her?"

Allie's mouth dropped. "No! Well, I did notice that when I brought 'Perseus' up, she didn't insult him like she did Leo. What the hell did you do?"

He just laughed, brushing himself off as he stood. Damien offered her a hand, which she readily took, her palm clasped tightly as they both refused to let go.

"Going after Order right now isn't going to work," He said thoughtfully.

Allie nodded, her voice tiny. "I know. I want to rip his head off… so badly I can't think straight. But that's what he wants. We have to think strategy. When Order kidnapped me, he said that our side had 'captured his lieutenant'. You know who he means, don't you?"

"Hazel," he said grimly.

"Hazel," Allie agreed. "Basically, either she fled from Order, or was kidnapped. From her…" Allie faltered. "... insults of me last time I'm going to assume she was taken by force."

Damien nodded. "If it helps, I don't think she was chummy with me either."

Allie just shook her head. "I don't know what's wrong with her. We need to get down to the root of this, and that means we have to find whoever kidnapped him, find Hazel, and discover what Order has brainwashed her with. She could have information on where he, and more importantly, his weakness."

Damien just looked at her in slight awe. "It's as if you were born a child of Athena, Als."

She looked at him sternly. "I am not Abc, understand?"

He cracked a slight smile. "Annabeth Bitch Chase?"

She cheered out loud, grinning madly at him. "You remembered! It's feels good, in a really petty way, to talk about people you hate."

He ruffled her hair. "I agree. But let's get real, the biggest bastard with the biggest head to ever live, is called Jason Gra -" He paused for a second. "You know, Thals doesn't deserve to be sullied with the same name as that idiot."

Allie nodded in agreement. "Let's call him… JK. Make up a new name… Jason Killjoy? How's that? He had the largest stick up his ass, it was ridiculous. Plus, his initials spell "jk" and we all know he's a joke."

Damien grinned toothily. "I like it. Poor Thalia, she had to deal with that jerk for so many centuries. I think she's glad she joined, just to get away from her crazy brother." Allie winced slightly. "How's she doing, anyway?"

"She's getting better. We're friends now, it almost feels like I'm still Piper. It's _amazing_." Allie smiled wistfully.

"We better get back to the Camp," Damien said regretfully. "As much as I hate to say it, Order's probably going to attack in a few days. We need to prepare, it's not going to be the only battle."

Allie sighed in reluctant agreement. "Alright," she said dispassionately. "At least we got some work done," she motioned to the remains of the thousands of monsters they'd just slaughtered.

"Well, now we have more time to bid revenge," Damien said, frowning.

"And think of more creative ways to hang Order's entrails from here to Los Angeles." A slight smile appeared on his face.

"That too."

Allie held her hand out in front of her face, sensing the Guardians were currently at Camp Half-Blood. That only left Camp Jupiter unguarded as Allie and Damien had both sent the Amazons and the hunters to the Greek camp.

Allie cocked her head to the side as she determined that the seven Guardians already there was more than sufficient to defend the Greeks, Amazons, and Hunters from any attacks.

"Shall we?" This time it was Allie who held out her hand. Damien took it without hesitation, and Allie teleported them both to Camp Jupiter.

\- Linebreak -

They spent the next couple of days preparing. Allie had immediately sent a message to Camp Half-Blood of their predicament, and informed the other Guardians to protect the campers as well as the Hunters and Amazons.

They had replied that a few of Order's minions had started to advance, but then were called back mysteriously. Allie assumed that this was when Order had discovered that Allie and Damien had killed a small portion of his army and didn't want to risk anything more.

It was the third day of the week when there was news.

"Attack!" One of the guards at the front entrance called. The large river separating the camp from the outside world was huge, but would be no problem for a deity like Order.

"The army is approaching! Estimate: 40 minutes until arrival!"

"Quickly!" Damien hollered. "Prepare for war! There is a chance he is just here to intimidate us with his numbers, but it is miniscule! Gear for battle and prepare to fight for your legion!"

There was a deafening cry as the Roman camp, which was altogether larger than the Camp Half-Blood and the Amazons, roared its support, starting to gather their weapons and armor.

Allie turned slowly, her heart sinking as she saw the large black swarm that was thousands upon millions of monsters. She thought she had taken out a decent amount of Order's monsters in fury of her mother's death, but she had severely underestimated the massive force Order controlled.

She bit her lip, not wanting to bring her people into the terrible conflict but also refusing to lead the Camp to their deaths. Perhaps Jason deserved it, but none of the others did. Her limbs feeling as if they were made of lead, she slowly raised her watch to eye level.

 _Contacts - Army - James. J (Automatic Emergency Contact) - Call._

As Allie pressed the last button, she prayed that everybody on Meroupia would forgive her for calling their soldiers to war.

"Atalanta Chaos. Come in, Atalanta Chaos." The voice on the other end was practically static, the voice coming from incredibly far away.

"General. Code Royalle. Requesting backup, at least seventeen thousand of your most highly trained soldiers. Between Guardian 1 and I, we can probably transfer ten thousand each."

"What? _Seventeen thousand?_ You are asking a lot. Even so, I will try my best to fulfil these requirements. Please don't teleport so many if you feel it will weaken you, Miss Chaos," he responded.

"I must, General. We will all do our part to take down Order. Can you have them amass in the Great Hall in fifteen minutes?"

"Fifteen minutes? We are talking about _seventeen thousand soldiers!_ " His voice became more formal. "With all due respect, of course, Miss Chaos."

"Thirty minutes. The enemy arrives in about thirty five, so I assume they will be already geared for battle. I'm sorry to put you under so much pressure, but it looks like Order has brought his entire army to this one location. After this battle, I will conjure a camp for the survivors."

"Survivors? You mean… this isn't a fight you think we'll win?" His voice was hesitant.

"I am confident in the prowess of our army, but you must tell them the truth about the likelihood of them walking away alive. I will not have our loyal soldiers naive as they march into a bloodbath. If any want to back out, let them leave without a fight."

"The army will be in the Great Hall in thirty minutes, Miss Chaos." He said finally. "I must go make preparations. By Chaos, good luck."

"Thank you," Allie said quietly, ending the call. "We'll need it."

The next few minutes were chaotic, a mix of confident and frightened campers. Both types were determined to fight until their last breaths.

"Damien, ready?" Allie asked, her voice strained.

"Yeah," he said firmly.

They both stared into the large meadow they had magically expanded to hold such a large number of people.

"Now!" Allie said.

With gasp, she felt a rush of wind as the soldiers appeared slowly. First, there were a hundred. Then two hundred. A thousand. Five thousand. Finally, Allie broke of the connection with a groan as all her muscles screamed in protest.

Seventeen thousand.

Allie stared at her soldiers in a mix of awe and pride. None of them had backed out - not a single one.

"Forward!" Allie cried, her voice filled with emotion as she lead her people. They quickly followed her, and though her entire body ached, she couldn't help the honored smile that rested upon her face. Allie slowly separated the army, thinning their ranks until they stood along the borders of the river that lay in front of the noble Roman camp.

She and Damien stood in the center of the semicircle, watching as Order's army arrived. The man himself was surrounded in a whirlwind of white, droplets of red sickeningly splattered on his cloak. Allie winced in disgust, watching him through narrowed eyes.

They finally stopped, watching the chaotic army stand firmly between them and the camp.

Order's lip curled in anger as he realized the extent of her army and where they had brought them from. It was clearly a fight that would cost him dearly, even if he did succeed in taking over Camp Jupiter.

Nonetheless, it seemed he was determined to goad them and force them to attack first.

"Atalanta! Damien!" He greeted darkly. His voice, automatically magnified by his powers, seemed to ricochet off the shields of his minions and back into the Army of Chaos.

"I see you've brought more sacrifices for me today. You may as well have brought children. How many more of your people have to die before I seize control of your city? Does anyone want to back out now, before I slaughter you all like pigs?"

Not a single muscle moved. Allie smirked once more, her passion and delight at the army's loyalty filling her to her core.

"Enough is enough Order," she called back. "It is your army that is weak. We have actual humans, and on average humans kill far more monsters than vice versa. It's because we have this thing, it's called wit. I don't think you've heard of it yet."

There were a few chuckles that rose from their corner of defence and Order narrowed his eyes irritably.

"None of these people love you, Atalanta. Come off of your high horse and accept it: They only love my baby sister." His voice was pungent with venom, and he spat those last words as if they were the most vile words in existence.

"When it comes to you, well," he smiled nastily. "Both you and wonder boy are just two bratty people Lady Chaos chose to be her apprentices. They know that you can't actually lead - you're just children! What have you ever done for your people?"

Allie's throat dried up, and even Damien looked lost.

"Who will protect you, when it comes to it? Are you just going to throw another baby in the way of the bullet headed for your heart?"

Order's words seemed to physically pierce her being but she gritted her teeth and opened her mouth to respond when -

" _I'll_ protect her," A soldier said, boldly stepping out of the army - out of the safety. Allie frowned, unable to recognize the girl from the distance. She saw two pairs of arms reach from the army to draw her back in but she shook them off firmly, her voice echoing loud and clear through the battlefield.

"I'll stand by Lady Piper." Allie froze in shock, her mind going into overdrive. There was no one on the planet that knew her name, except… A thought struck her. That little girl she had helped… A moment of weakness, of naivety… and the girl had finally grown up… Impossible.

 _Shellie?_

Little flashes, small raised voices suddenly came back to her.

 _No! It was my fault! I'm sorry, don't hurt me!_

 _Chaos no! Why would I hurt you? You're only a child! A kid! Who hell did this to you?_

 _Please, please just let me go!_

 _I'm not going to harm you, kid. I'm… just imagine me as some kind of police officer. What's your name?_

 _I'm - er - Jenny._

 _I want your real name, 'Jenny'._

 _Sorry Miss. My name is Shellie. Now please, please just let me go!_

 _Shellie, I want you to tell me who did this to you right now. It was extremely wrong of them to hit you, no matter what you did to them. Please tell me who did this._

 _No! I won't!_

 _Then at least tell me what you did._

 _I-I I_ stole _! I stole a piece of jewelry. I'm so, so sorry! I couldn't help it! My parents needed the money, and -_

 _You're parents need the money? What for?_

 _My - my brother needed the medicine. He's so sick, so_ tiny _…_

 _Oh hell. This is more complicated than I thought. I'm sorry honey, but you have to tell me who did this to you right now. I need you to do this for me. I promise I will heal your brother for you, but you have to bring me to who did this to you so that I can take them on trial. He'll get put in a place where he can't hurt anyone again. You want that, don't you?_

 _Y-you can heal my brother?_

 _Yes. Look, do you see this? It's magic. What's your favorite animal?_

 _A dolphin, miss._

 _No need to call me Miss, Shellie. Here, do you see this dolphin? It's made of water. I've enchanted it so that it will be permanently sealed. Take it as a gift._

 _Thank you..._

 _It's no problem, Shellie. Now, please lead me to the person who caused this bruise. It's really dark, wait one second..._

 _Oh gosh, you healed it! I just can't thank you enough. But I don't know if I should tell you who he is. He's my dad's boss, see, and I don't want to get my pap fired._

 _By Chaos! Please Shellie. If it comes to it, I'll find out by my own means. I don't what to have to do that, but I would do it anyway. Tell me, Shellie._

 _Fine, but please, you have to heal my brother!_

 _I already swore, Shellie, and I don't go back on my word. Please don't push it, kid, I'm begging you. I just want to help._

 _Please… promise me again._

 _I swear, Shellie, that I will heal your brother regardless of whether you tell me who hurt you._

 _Thank you. I appreciate that. It was that man, over there._

 _Him? The one in the white shirt and striped pants?_

 _Yes, that's the one._

 _Sir, you are under arrest. Please come with me._

 _Who are you? What juridification do you have over me?_

 _You clearly don't know who I am._

 _You're identification? Oh, because I'm sure you're_ so _famous that - oh by Chaos. I am_ so _sorry. Please, what can I do for you, Ma'am?_

 _As I said, I need you to come with me. I am arresting you as a danger to other children in the area._

 _I am sorry. Please, I didn't mean any harm -_

 _Come with me._

Allie shook her head as she recounted the terrible person she'd locked up for a few years. She had personally made sure that he had participated in daily community service.

 _Miss! Miss! Please, my brother needs help_ now _. I'm not sure he'll last much longer._

 _I'm coming Shellie. I just got to teleport this guy… there. All safe, he's far away and can't hurt you now._

 _Woah. He's… gone._

 _Shellie, where is your brother?_

 _Oh! Yes! This way, hurry now!_

 _This house?_

 _Yes! Come on!_

Allie blinked, looking at the blood red sky and tried not to smile as she recalled the young girl's brother. He had only been a few months old, yet had his sister's stunning smile. He had gurgled weakly when he had seen her, the sickness clearly having taken it's toll on him.

 _Oh… Goodness. He's getting better. Thank you so much, Miss._

 _It's no problem, Shellie. I'm sorry, but I have to get going. Your father will be fine, understand? I'll make sure that he gets a promotion and takes that terrible person that hit you's place._

 _Miss, you're far too kind, you don't have to do that -_

 _I promise, Shellie. And I always keep my promises, remember? I really have to go. Say hi to your parents for me._

 _Miss, what can I call you?_

 _Piper is fine… Wait! No! I didn't mean that!_

 _Thank you Miss Piper. Thank you so much._

 _No, please, call me Allie…_

 _With all due respect, I like the name 'Piper' better. Thank you so much! I'll go tell my parents!_

 _Oh - well, goodbye then Shellie. Take care now!_

 _Bye Miss! Thank you!_

It had been in the beginning stages of her apprenticeship and Allie had only just begun to accept Ziana as her Master. It had been a strange transition, and she'd accidently introduced herself as Piper a thousand times, forgetting she'd changed her name.

She'd wiped the memories of all of them, but she had been in a decent disguise at the time so she hadn't believed the tiny girl would put two and two together. She lived in a small town near the palace, and was in a relatively rural area. Shellie's was the only memory she hadn't altered.

Allie was snapped out of her thoughts as a battle cry rose from the army of Chaos.

"I will help Lady Piper, because she helped me!" The woman shouted, her hands raised to the sky as she tried to express the extent of her loyalty. "I was a simple peasant girl, and she was the apprentice of the creator himself! She was royalty! And yet…" she suddenly lowered her voice and spoke more to the army than Camp Jupiter. I had to strain my ears to hear.

"She helped me see that abusing one another wasn't right. She took the effort to make sure that the shopkeeper that hit me was put in prison. But more importantly, she showed me that he was _wrong._ I wasn't a useless stealing liar. I was trying to help my _family_. So I'm not fighting this for me, or even for Lady Chaos herself. I'm helping her _-_ " she motioned to Allie, "Miss Chaos, Miss Piper, _whatever_. Those titles mean _nothing_. The woman inside is ten times the person you believe. And _that's_ who I'm fighting for."

Allie looked around desperately, hoping nobody had caught the slip.

But it was too late. Camp Jupiter was staring at her in a different light.

"P-piper... Piper _McLean_." Reyna breathed. "No…"

Order chuckled, looking delighted. "They - they didn't know?" He laughed madly, his arms remaining strangely still as his chest rumbled. " _They didn't know!_ Oh, this is _rich_."

He stared directly at her for a few minutes, before smiling cruelly. "I'm not even going to attack today. This is just… oh. This is just too good. I'm going to leave, and let you..." he turned to leer over at Camp Jupiter, "Suffer the _repercussions_."

With a flick of his wrist, the entire army disappeared, vanishing easily into thin air. Millions upon millions of monsters - gone. Just like that. Allie couldn't believe the unnatural amount of power Order possessed. The thought frightened her more than she cared to admit.

It meant that Order had been meaning to give them warning. He and his army hadn't simply been trekking to save his strength, it had been to force the Guardians to summon the chaotic army. Allie shuddered as she pondered what Order wanted with her people.

Allie's face was pale and trembling and Damien clutched her hand as if to steady her.

"I'll help you win this war…" Her voice was far more confident than she felt as she addressed Camp Jupiter, "But after that, you're on your own. And for even that, I have conditions. You are not to reveal my identity. I am placing a monitoring device on each and every one of you present. If a word is breathed to anyone, especially with another group, you will not live to tell the tale."

Damien nodded the whole time. "Understood?"

Reyna nodded, still looking faint. "I speak for Camp Jupiter when I say none of my people will reveal your... persona, Miss Chaos. I apologize for this inconvenience and assure you that the other camps will not get the slightest hint of what has occurred tonight. I respect your conditions and will back them with my own standing if the slightest rumor is heard."

Allie met her gaze with a steely one of her own.

"I thank this legion, and that is all I ask of you. I would like to speak with Reyna. The rest of you - dismissed."

The crowd scurried away until only two remained. Reyna… and Jason.

"Piper… why?" He rasped, his voice hoarse. "Why didn't you tell me?"

His smoky blue eyes kept hers in a silent plea. No matter how realistically she had envisioned it in her dreams, it was nothing compared to now. But the real shock came as he stepped forward and rested his forehead against hers.

His voice broke. "I love you!"

Allie opened her mouth, but nothing came out. It turns out she didn't need to.

Damien's eyes were wreathed in angry black flames, but he didn't look mad. He looked murderous. He ripped Jason away from her and towered over him in absolute fury.

"How _dare_ you!" He roared. "How _dare_ you stand there and talk to her as if you were a human being and not some lowly traitor at her _feet_! How _dare_ you come scrambling back, professing your so-called love when all you've ever done is lie, and cheat, and steal, and play with both of their _hearts_!"

He pointed at Reyna, who wore a pained expression.

"She _loved_ you! They both did! And what did you do? _You_ strung them along, you coward! _You_ imprisoned your _sister_! You sent her to the brink of death after she spent her entire life trying to find you. And now you come here and tell the person who _you_ killed, who _you_ put through fucking _hell_ , that you _love_ her? What is _wrong_ with you? You make me sick, Jason Grace. _Sick_!"

Allie was shaking. Tears poured down her face as she pried Damien's tense arms open and leaned into them. He relaxed as he wrapped both his arms around her as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

But Jason had a different idea. He stood up, an expression of defeat on his face. "I see." He muttered scornfully. "Goodbye _Piper_."

And the part of Allie's heart that had been glued together again and again shattered for the last time. She gave a small sob into Damien's shirt. His only response was the tightening of his arms around her.

"Goodbye, Jason." He said curtly. Jason nodded, stalking away with a mask of hatred and anger.

Reyna waited, an expression on her face that no one could quite understand. "Should I leave?" She inquired. "I mean this seems like a private moment…"

"No!" Allie cried, breaking from Damien's embrace.

"No?" Reyna asked, looking shocked. "But… I-I… you hate me. "

"No." Allie said, feeling a bit calmer. She pulled a non-responsive Reyna in for a hug. "I just wanted to say… thank you. _Thank you_!"

Reyna looked like she had been told that Mars was secretly the love child of Diana and Vulcan.

"W-what?" She asked.

"Thank you." Allie repeated. "You never let me and Percy go. You went down fighting and I will always remember you for that. You were one of the few who didn't let their pride get in the way of justice. Our feud was over a petty boy, that frankly, had a lot more going for him then."

Reyna cracked a weak chuckle.

"I agree," she smiled tentatively.

They both started chuckling, and it quickly turned into full blown laughter. Allie had the feeling that it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

"So, where do I come in?" Damien asked confusedly.

"Oh hush now," Allie chided. "I haven't had a friend who actually liked getting a pedicure in a long time."

"What about Sapphire - "

"Who I'm not related to."

"Oh."

"Damien, you're my best friend, but I need to chill with a female and relax at some point. Alina's pretty girly, but she likes plants so much it drives me nuts. Come on! She brought a sunflower on our _spa outing_! And Sapphire - oh by Chaos. I want to be girly sometimes, but honestly. It's like asking for a bulldog and getting a poodle that's dyed pink. Reyna and I are pretty similar, so..."

"Got it! Got it. No need to over explain yourself Als, you'll give everyone a heart attack! See you guys later," Damien laughed. "Don't come back with pink wigs and purple cheeks."

"Is he always this killable?" Reyna asked nonchalantly as he popped away.

"Yep," Allie said cheerfully. "Let's go do girly stuff! What do girls do? I'm really out of the game today."

"I've got your back, girlfriend," Reyna smirked. "But after that, you're gonna teach me some of those moves I saw you practicing in the last few days. I'll be your dress up doll and release my inner girl - whom, may I add, is _kept under lock and key_ \- and you train me. Deal?"

"Ooh, a bargain. I can totally see why Jason liked us both, we're practically twins!" Allie cheered the last word happily.

"Wow, Piper. You got _reeeally_ hyper over the last millennia," Reyna smirked.

"Actually, I'm normally much more badass. Today is different though. Oh, I'm thrilled!" She could barely contain her elation.

Reyna seemed to bite down her smile, but her eyes betrayed her emotion. They absolutely glowed. "I hate to admit this, but I'm kind of excited. After Gwen passed, I haven't had a proper female friend, it's just been sparring."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Allie demanded. "Let's go!" She promptly began dragging Reyna away.

Allie was giddy with happiness, not simply because she missed letting her guard down and being feminine for once, but also because she had dodged three bullets in a single day.

Order hadn't attacked.

Jason had been scared off.

Her identity had been sworn to secrecy.

Checkmate. It was as if Allie had just won the ultimate game of chess. Her entire body shook with anticipation as she kept pushing the laughing (and also groaning) girl towards the nearest salon, and decided despite everything, she wouldn't let her psychotic uncle ruin her life.

 **\- Linebreak -**

 **Frankly, I am so proud of everyone who has reviewed/favorited/followed. I literally cried at the sudden increase in interest from fanfiction users. Please review and leave criticism! I am always looking to improve my writing.**

 **Kudos,**

 **\- Your super hyper author who has just eaten five smoothies - Kathie.** **  
**


	14. Chapter 14

"K-Kirsten?" Allie whispered, fear in her voice for the first time in days. The girl was crouched over her form, holding a gleaming dagger.

It had been a couple of weeks since the attack on Camp Jupiter. After she had informed the Chaotic Army of their Commander's temporary demise, they had returned to Meriopia with heavy hearts and the thirst for vengeance.

Soon after, it had been decided that it was safer to stick together in groups. Allie and Damien had decided to remain in Camp Jupiter with the Hunters, and the remaining Guardians were sent to shield Camp Half-Blood and the Amazons.

"Artemis said you were missing, why are you here…?" She asked, choking.

"To finish what I started," Kirsten snarled, thrusting the dagger into her left lung. Allie couldn't breathe. Blood filled the tent but instead of flowing out, it simply rose. She was drowning. The red liquid bubbled and oozed, forcing it's way into her broken air pipes.

"K-Kirsten?" Allie pleaded, trying to cough and spit away the salty tang that made its way in her mouth. "Why?"

Kirsten just shot her a nasty look. "Because," she said coldly, holding up her ring. Allie finally recognized the protective rune carved into the base of the amethyst.

"It's a memory rune," she whispered. "Who cast this? Who… nobody..." Realization dawned on her face at the same moment Kirsten slunk out of the tent.

"Order!" She cried as she shot up, trying to grab for the hand that was just out of reach. She quickly brushed the tears from her eyes and looked up at the full moon. Slowly, realization sank in. Besides the vision that Chaos had sent, she hadn't had a prophetic dream in years.

 _Artemis,_ she prayed. _I need to speak to you immediately. It's about Kirsten._

Her chest ached from where Kristen had struck her with the knife, and she winced slightly at the bruised flesh. Whatever the dream was, it wasn't simply a nightmare. It was a warning.

After a few minutes, a silvery glow caressed the large boulder Allie was perched on. "Allie," the cloud said gently, "I cannot speak to you directly. I have to guide the moon across its cycle, but feel free to talk through this."

"That's alright," Allie responded, feeling a weight settle in her chest.

"Is Kirsten alright?" Artemis asked, and Allie could imagine her frowning worriedly on her chariot.

"That's what I want to talk about. I had a demigod dream, Artemis," Allie confessed unthinkingly. There was a confused silence as both participants of the call digested her words.

"A demigod dream? Impossible, you're not a… Gods… You're a demigod! How did I not see it before?" Artemis's voice was high pitched and angry, as if she was inwardly scolding herself for not reading the subtle signs.

"I'm not a demigod," Allie denied breathily, attempting to keep a cool head even though she was inwardly shooting arrows at herself for being for idiotic. "Don't be foolish. I was just a mortal that Chaos recruited."

There was a deafening silence on the other end, then, "I don't believe you."

"Artemis, I'm not a demigod," Allie repeated, trying to keep her voice firm. "Stop making assumptions. I've come to tell you something important about Kirsten. Do you want to know, or not?"

"This," said Artemis warningly, "Is _not_ over."

Allie hung her head slightly, even though she knew that Artemis couldn't see her expression. "I know. If you tell a single soul, the only person willing to save you from me would be Order. Understood?"

"Don't tell me what to do!" Artemis spluttered, making it suddenly apparent that she _was_ the daughter of Zeus. "I am the Goddess, Artemis - "

"Do you understand?" Allie growled, her voice darkening tremendously. "I thought we were friends. Are you sure you want to make me your enemy by telling the gods?"

There was a silence. "I like your friendship, Atalanta, but that doesn't mean you can boss me around. As you said, friends don't do that to one another."

Allie pondered her words for a bit. "I know," She said finally, trying not to be so rough. "But my secret is too important to be discovered. I need an oath, Artemis. Please think of this logically. Chaos was the one who adopted me. Why would she willing take a being of evil as her daughter?"

Artemis seemed to avoid the question.

"I have one condition, Allie," She said quietly. "I want to know your original name. Then I will give the oath to never tell a soul."

"Why on earth would I do that?" Allie snapped, her temper growing thin. She had just come to talk about Kirsten, and now Chaos's granddaughter was demanding answers!

"Because you won't hurt me," Artemis answered confidently. "You may not love me, but you loved my Grandmamma. And she would never have forgiven you."

Allie's ragged breathing didn't change. "But if I reveal to you my identity, you'll be able to guess Damien's too. I can't betray his trust like that."

Artemis sighed. "Allie, I need to know. I have agreed to make the oath, nobody will know about this, but you have to tell me whom you are. If you don't, I'll automatically go digging. I will find it, _that_ , you and I both know..."

"Are - are you _blackmailing_ me?" Allie demanded, her fists enloped in black flame.

"No," Artemis said. "Believe it or not, I do value your friendship. I won't tell the gods, oath or not. But I will find out what you're hiding and if you can be trusted, for my hunters' sake. And especially for my Lieutenant. She wouldn't be able to bear it if she finally found a friend and it was ripped away from her."

Allie took a deep breath. "Fine," she said quietly. "Just let me check with my fellow Commander." Her voice cracked slightly at the last word. She and Damien had taken up the station of Co-Commanders of the Army in Chaos's place. Her heart shattered a little every time she thought of her mother.

She quickly exited the tent, the cloud of mist following her as she walked outside in her pajamas.

"Damien?" She called, knocking on the cabin door. While she had preferred to sleep in a tent with the hunters (courtesy of her father's love of camping) Damien had been reminded a place his original mother had loved, Montauk, and had asked to sleep there.

"Hello?" She asked again.

"Hey Allie," Damien grumbled sleepily. "Initials of our friend with flaming frizzy hair."

"R.E.D," Allie responded, wondering why he was asking about Rachel now. She propped herself up on the bed next to him and peered across, watching his tired green eyes blink slowly as he tried to focus on her.

"Full name of Order's Lieutenant?" She said, not really in the mood for test questioning.

"Hazel," he yawned again, "Maria Levesque."

"Damien, we need to talk." He seemed to tighten slightly at those words, his wiry muscles stiffening as he turned to face her.

"Did I do something wrong?" He asked curiously, a hint of doubt playing across his expression. He fiddled with his thumbs slightly, looking as if he was a five-year-old boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"No," Allie assured him quickly. "No, not at all. In fact, it's not you, it's me that's the problem."

Damien raised his eyes, looking at least slightly more relaxed. "Wow Allie." He held a hand to his forehead dramatically. "I can't believe you're breaking up with me."

He blew her a fake kiss, smirking. Allie slapped him lightly across his head but couldn't fight the smile that rose upon her face.

"Bleuh," the cloud that was Artemis muttered in the background. "Disgusting."

"Okay, first off," Allie addressed Damien, "If I was going to break up with you it would be: 'It's not me it's you' and second, I think we have to tell Artemis who we are." The last few words rushed quickly out of her mouth, and ended up sounding like, _ithinkwehavetotellartemiswhoweare._

"Whoa there," Damien said, looking bewildered. Allie rolled her eyes, almost forgetting his incredibly enhanced senses. Of course he still would have been able to hear her.

"You want to do what?" He asked, just for clarification.

"We need to tell Artemis who we are. She's threatened - " Allie was cut off by Artemis's small silvery cloud.

"I already told you this isn't forced! I won't betray you to the pig I call father. But if you want to oath, you have to give me your name." Allie bit her lip.

"There you have it. She says she won't tell the gods, and while she's my friend, there are other ways to find secrets." Allie murmured.

"Mind possession?" Damien confirmed.

"Yeah," she responded. "The only way to shield her is if she swears on the river Styx, that way even if the gods try to delve into her memories they won't find anything. Lady Styx isn't strong enough to stop Order, of course, but he already knows so it doesn't matter."

Damien cocked his head to the side. "Well, she is my favorite goddess," he said thoughtfully.

There was a sudden silence on the other end. "You know, that's exactly what Orion told me," Artemis said, the cloud quivering in her anger, it's hue tinted red.

"Whoa there, Artemis," Damien said, looking apologetic. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like that bastard."

The cloud looked slightly pacified, and stopped drifting menacingly towards Damien. Allie almost sighed in relief.

Allie sighed. "Well, what do you say, Damien? Tell her, or not?" Though she felt a great deal of pity towards the maiden goddess after that asshole Orion had shattered her heart - she wasn't in a very sympathetic mood, especially after Artemis had blackmailed her.

He shrugged. "Nothing to lose, right?"

Allie facepalmed at his stupidity. "Wrong. So many things can go wrong here, it's ridiculous that we're even considering it."

He cocked his head to the side, seemingly calculating the situation, then cast a sound ward circling the five meters where he was standing.

"Let's do it. It's also for her protection… How does she know this, anyway?" He asked at the end, looking at her confusedly.

"Erm..." Allie said sheepishly. "I may have let it slip that I was a demigod."

"What?" Damien yelped. " _You_?" He was staring at her in undisguised horror, astonishment, and even a slight hint of amusement.

Allie started. "Um, yes? Wait, hold it. I don't understand the question." She rolled her eyes at his delighted expression.

"Well," he said, his smirk becoming larger and larger. "I just figured since I was the impulsive, you know, _rush-into-danger-without-caring-about-consequences_ kind of guy, I'd accidentally spill the beans first." Allie chuckled.

"I was sort of hoping we wouldn't have to spill any at all," she admitted. "But at least I've made a new friend: Reyna."

"Reyna? The Praetor of Camp Jupiter?" Artemis asked, breaking into the conversation. Allie had almost forgotten she was still there.

"Yeah," Allie said tiredly.

"So," Artemis said, and if clouds could frown, this one was. "You two aren't… coupling, are you? How is it teens say it these days? Gods, the languages chance so quickly. Now Shakespeare, _that_ was proper English."

"No," Allie said, trying to hide her flaming cheeks. "It's called being a couple. And no, we aren't that. So… yeah," she finished lamely."

She couldn't bring herself to look at Damien, whose face was also flushed with embarrassment. "Yeah," he muttered, and Allie couldn't help but detect a slight note of sadness in his voice.

She touched his arm gently and he turned to look at her with a defeated smile on his face. "Let's wait until Artemis finishes guiding the moon. It'll only be a few - "

"Minutes, I know." The unspoken word ' _boy_ ' was left at the end of the sentence as Artemis grumbled the words briskly. "I'm coming around now."

The white cloud dissolved into the atmosphere, leaving a very real, very tired Artemis. "Hey," she said weakly. "Heavens, and Apollo thinks that the sun's horses are hard to control. If he spent _one day._.." She seemed to shake herself out of the rant.

"Artemis," Allie said, trying not to look irritated. The goddess had royally pissed her off by bringing up her deceased grandmother. "I take it you're here to demand our identities? What else do you want us to do? Bow down? Rub your feet while we're at it?"

"My hunters come first, Atalanta," Artemis said firmly, trying to brush away her guilt as she saw Allie's expression. "I need to be sure that you're on the good side."

Allie scoffed slightly out of the corner of her mouth. _If she had any idea how much good Damien had done… And then how much evil she had wrought._

Allie briefly thought of Kirsten and James - the most sinful crime she had ever committed. The murder of a child was not something even the most cold-hearted killers could be proud of.

"I-I..." Allie said quietly, trying to expel the thoughts from her mind.

Damien shot her an encouraging look, putting his large calloused hand on her shoulder and squeezing it slightly. Artemis tried her best not to look disgusted at the show of affection.

"Yes?" She inquired, also prodding Allie on in her own blatantly unsubtle way. Definitely a daughter of Zeus, Allie thought, but was too nervous to roll her eyes.

"I need your oath first. Actually, this might make it easier. I, Allie Chaos swear by the Creator that I will tell Artemis, the Goddess of the Moon, my identity if she swears on the Styx that she will not reveal it to a single soul."

There was a crackle of lightning.

"Very well," Artemis cleared her throat. "I, the Goddess of the Moon, swear by the Styx that I will not reveal Atalanta Chaos's identity should she choose to tell me." Allie shot her a look. "I will also not inform anyone about the rest of the Guardians' personas, should I discover them." Allie glared at her.

"Well," Damien said shrugging. "That was… intense?"

Artemis nodded in agreement, then shivered slightly as she realized she'd just agreed with a _male._ Alle almost chuckled at her expression, but the smile died on her face as she realized what she was supposed to do.

"Oh, um," she stammered, her usually sharp tongue resting stupidly inside her mouth. "I..." Her voice died, and she had to try again. "I'm..."

For once, Artemis waited patiently, a look of empathy on her face as she watched Allie struggle with her words.

"I'm P-Piper McLean-n." Allie managed shakily, turning away so she wouldn't have to look at Artemis's expression.

There was deadly silence. "Liar," Artemis's voice cut coldly through the quiet, anger beginning to form inside her gaze. "That's impossible."

Damien just winced. "Hello again, Lady Artemis."

She sniffed, but paused for a second. "You? You claim to be Perseus?" She eyed his hood suspiciously.

Reluctantly, Allie drew her hood back. Artemis slowly took in her features, from her tanned skin to her vibrant kaleidoscope eyes.

"Swear it one more time," she said uncertainly, her barriers of defense and denial slowly chipping away.

"I swear by the Styx, on my life, that I am Piper McLean. So mote it be." A minute later, and Allie was still there, looking at Artemis with a slightly more confident expression.

"Are you happy, Artemis?" She asked sternly. "No more poking into business that isn't yours."

Her eyes were slowly filling with tears, and it didn't seem like Artemis was even listening to her. "Perseus, take off your hood," she asked quietly. "Please."

Looking slightly uncomfortable at the suddenly vulnerable goddess, he slowly drew back the cover, just enough for Artemis to see a sliver of his emerald eyes.

"Perseus!" Artemis growled, her anger returning. "How could you not tell Thalia of your existence? She's devastated! Still! After a million years! That's what you get for being the only good male in the world." With that, she slapped him hard, leaving a red handprint across his face.

"What is it with girls and violence," he muttered, shooting a glance at Allie. She tried to hold back the smirk that formed at her lips but failed.

"Don't be an idiot, Damien, you already know how you get with tickling. Remember that time I stole your coco in the morning?" She winced slightly. "Hell, you are _not_ a morning person..."

He chuckled again, but froze when Artemis advanced on him, murder in her eyes.

Artemis readily slapped him again, her lower lip trembling in rage and thankfulness. Then she did something nobody expected: she eagerly embraced Damien, wrapping her tiny twelve-year-old arms around him.

He stiffened, but soon returned the embrace.

"I'm so sorry about Annabeth Perseus," Artemis said after she had withdrawn her arms. "I didn't know… I am _so_ sorry." Her liquid silver eyes were wide and furious, most likely with herself. She didn't quite seem to know what to do, and just noticed she had shrunk into her tiny self.

Allie's mouth was wide open in astonishment as the Goddess of Man-Haters hugged a male.

"Allie, close your mouth," Damien grinned, trying to shake off the shock himself. He offered the tiny girl a fist bump, and grinning toothily, she hit it with ten times the power necessary.

"Nice," Damien said, looking impressed while shaking his hand in pain. "You have to teach me how to do that sometime."

Artemis smirked. "Will do, Perseus. I'm so glad you're not dead."

Damien smirked. "I bet Kronos would disagree," he pointed out. Allie had been watching this exchange with absolute bewilderment.

"You know, you never told my why Artemis doesn't hate you." Allie said, trying and struggling to breathe in her amazement. "And why you aren't a jackalope right now."

Artemis just patted his muscled arm. "He is a virgin, Allie. I can sense it. No male in history has held on to it for more than a hundred years. He is truly special." She studied Allie for a second, ignoring Damien's tomato colored face.

"You are clean too, Allie," she said, smiling. "I didn't want to test you before, because I didn't want to automatically judge you if you weren't as pure as I thought you were. However, you didn't disappoint me. I'm glad you are both untainted."

"Artemis!" Allie squeaked, her face flaming in mortification. "Stop it!"

Artemis just laughed at their expressions. "Honestly, it's as bad as explaining to my hunters what a period is..."

Damien looked as if he would die of embarrassment. "Uh… Artemis..."

"Yes Perseus?" She asked innocently. "You wouldn't, perhaps, like me to continue giving you two the talk?"

"No!" Both of them yelled together, before looking at one another in horror. "No!" They both shrieked again.

"Ahh!" Artemis howled with laughter. "Oh goodness, it's like having a live circus right in front of me!" Allie glared murderously at her.

"You poo," she scowled.

This just sent Artemis into another fit of laughter. "Learning vocabulary from Valdez, I see," she pointed out.

If Allie could have scowled harder, she would have. However, before long, smiles broke out on all of their faces, and they hugged fiercely once more.

"Gods," Allie said, her voice muffled by Damien's sweatshirt. "You smell just like Chaos."

"Me?" Damien asked in surprise, looking at her in slight confusion.

"No, Artemis," Allie responded, tears slipping out of her eyes as she reached across to hug the twelve year old once more. Artemis morphed into her seventeen form so she could embrace her properly.

Artemis just smiled. "I'm older than you, Allie. Honestly, I would be ecstatic to be considered family by you both. It would be my honor to be… something like an Aunt, if you want it. I would already protect you both, seeing as Chaos loved you unconditionally, but I haven't ever had… a niece I could be proud of. And most definitely not a nephew that I liked..." She chuckled, wiping away the salty tears that had gathered on her cheeks.

"Perseus," she murmured, bringing him into another group hug, and fiercely tugged them together.

Allie almost couldn't breathe as she was battling so much emotion. "Yes," she whispered into her ear. "I'd love to be your niece."

Artemis smiled. "Well, Niece, I'm sorry for trying to blackmail you."

"It's okay Aunt, it was for a good cause." Allie responded croakily, her throat once again closing up.

"Well, Auntie Artemis, I accept too," Damien grinned, his entire face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Though I don't think the hunters like me yet, I'm sure they will in time. Maybe like a big brother."

Artemis smiled at the picture. "Just think of it. The first male to join the hunt."

"What about - " Allie swatted Damien before he could finish his sentence, her eyes promising death as she glowered darkly at him. He gave her a sheepish smile, his words falling short. _Orion._

The name was left unspoken, but Artemis seemed to guess anyway. "He was the only love I ever had," she said softly, each word coming out of her mouth faster. "But I never accepted him into the hunt. I will never accept any _boy_ into the hunt."

Damien looked slightly hurt, and made to move away from Artemis when she put a hand on her shoulder. He turned back to look at her, his eyes cast towards the ground vulnerably.

"Perseus, you idiot," she muttered. "Haven't I already told you countless times that you aren't a boy?" She tugged him back to sit by her with admirable strength. "You are a man Perseus, despite lacking significant brain capacity."

"Thanks," he said cheerfully, but then seemed to digest her words. "Wait what? _Artemis_!"

She laughed at his expression, and after a few seconds he joined in. Naturally, Allie had to participate, and this lead to a full out giggling session.

After about an hour of bonding and explaining their adventures, Allie stopped for a second to stare at the sky.

"Shit." She muttered as a thought suddenly struck her. She flipped across the cabin bunk to stare at her friend and aunt, her hair hanging strangely to the floor as she hung upside down.

"Watch your mouth," Artemis scolded playfully. Her auburn hair was splayed across her pillow and her eyes liquid silver as she fixed them on her niece.

"No, really. _Shit_. This is a problem," Allie answered tiredly. She looked cautiously at Damien. "We have to rune her. Order," she grimaced at her own stupidity, "Slipped my mind. We have to protect Artemis."

Damien looked thoughtful. "Don't freak, Artemis," he said gently. He slowly drew a blade that glowed a mechanical blue.

Artemis didn't move a single muscle, looking at them trustingly. "What is a rune?" She asked calmly.

Damien looked thankful that she hadn't completely flipped out at the sight of a male holding a knife. "It is a symbol. It normally takes a form similar to a mandarin character, and actually originated from China."

"Yes," Allie continued, "It mainly serves a purpose." She showed Artemis the thousands of tiny runes carved into her heel and explained the meaning of a few before looking carefully at her and studying her face.

"Artemis," Allie said quietly. "We need to carve a protection rune into your skin." Artemis frowned slightly, but still responded almost immediately.

"Because Order would take my memories otherwise?" She asked.

"Well - yes," Allie said, looking at her in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"I'm not completely idiotic, Allie," Artemis pointed out dryly. I was there when you had your conversation with Damien. I had expected something similar anyway, it's not like I have experienced enough pain in my life." Her voice was heavily laden with sarcasm.

"Alright," she said firmly, taking off her left sandal and exposing her heel to the cold crisp air. "Rune me then."

Allie bit her lip, taking the knife from Damien but not going any closer to Artemis. "There's something you have to know first," Allie said gently.

"What is it?" Artemis asked patiently.

"This… these runes hurt. They are important, and last forever, but they leave permanent scars. It depends on how much pain you have felt in your life. As you are a goddess, there is no way for you to die, so at least we can be assured you will live."

Artemis tried her best not to gasp, but still inhaled rather sharply. "People have died?"

Damien nodded gravely. "It starts like this: imagine the pain of a rune being something like… I don't know, 200 bunnies."

"Bunnies?" Both Allie and Artemis chorused in unison, staring at him in confusion.

He shrugged. "Hey, I can use other units, can't I?" Allie fought had to physically fight her smirk, and from the look of it, Artemis was doing the same.

"Okay, continue," she said.

"So, there are 2000 bunnies. 50 bunnies would kill an average human," he said, completely unaware of the effect the 'bunnies' were having on the girls.

"Bunnies," Allie finally burst out after a few minutes of hearing him speak useless words. " _Bunnies!_ " Artemis joined in, finally learning what the term 'LMAO' meant.

After a few minutes of Damien pouting, they finally relented and stifled their laughter politely.

"Thank you," he huffed childishly. "As I was saying, the bunnies - "

"AHA!" Artemis roared, slapping the cabin floor with her hand and sending a loud bang through the wood. Allie couldn't help it - bursting into giggles once again, her entire chest heaving as she chortled heartily.

"Stop," Damien said, finally having had enough. He froze them with a wave of his hand. Allie was inwardly laughing too hard to break his temporary spell though her body was still vibrating with chuckles.

"As I was saying, 50 bunnies are enough to kill a normal human. Think of it like 500 watts of power coursing through your body." The smile slowly died off of Artemis's frozen face.

"Damnit," her lips managed to mutter through the spell.

"Damnit is right," Damien agreed. "The good news is that you've probably experienced a lot of pain in your life." He quickly rephrased his statement as a murderous glint appeared in Artemis's eyes.

"I meant," he corrected hastily, "That it fits in with the equation. While I'm no good at math, I get this. And believe me, that's saying _something._ " He cleared his throat slightly.

"It's 2000 bunnies minus the amount of pain you have already experienced in your lifetime. In return, you will get eternal protection that is theoretically unbreakable, which means you will have one of the most advanced mind protections in this galaxy. Order will be unable to read or steal your memories for eternity." Artemis's anger faded slightly.

"Oh," she said, the spell wearing off. "I appreciate you telling me this. I imagine it's like the Styx? I've heard rumors about it being the most painful thing in existence."

Damien raised his hands sheepishly. "As a person who has experienced both, may I just say that this is about a hundred times more painful that the Styx?"

" _What?_ " Artemis demanded, shaking her head as she tried to comprehend the massive amount of agony that was. "I guess Is severely underestimated the bunnies worth in pain..."

Allie tried not to giggle. "I got mine ages ago, Artemis. In mortal age, I was probably only twenty."

Artemis stiffened her features. "Well, if a twenty year old teenager can do it, so can a…" She listed a number so long that Allie was almost afraid to repeat it in fear she'd be speaking for all of eternity.

"Whoa," Damien said, wide eyed. "You are _old._ "

Allie whacked the back of his head. "And you are _subtle._ " Allie laughed openly as the scowl marring Artemis's face evaporated into thin air.

"Well done, Allie. I like you far more than I imagined I would." She patted Allie's shoulder cheerfully.

Damien shrugged. "Artemis, it's going to hurt. Either we could rune you, or we could wipe your memories. We would leave a bit of residue and Order would be able to tell we'd done it, just not the memories we'd taken."

Artemis didn't even hesitate. "As a newly baptized Aunt, I can assure you that I trust you with my life. Even if I wasn't immortal." She raised her heel to Damien instead of Allie, showing a great deal of trust by letting a male mark her.

He dipped his head in respect and carefully readied her heel. Allie grasped both of Artemis's hands, knowing she would need it. Damien quickly carved a couple of slashes into her foot, the rune turning out as tiny as a needle.

Artemis looked at them in confusion. "That wasn't so bad," she said, sounding relieved as she relaxed in Allie's arms.

"No," Damien said carefully. "The pain… it comes after."

"What do you - _AAGGHH_!" Artemis roared with agony, the excruciation taking hold of her body as she writhed. "Stop it! Stop it, Allie! MAKE IT STOP!"

Allie did nothing, knowing that even if she tried there was nothing she could do. She didn't even flinch as she felt a bone in her hand splinter from Artemis's vice grip.

"Artemis, it's okay," she soothed, patting back the hair that was soaked with sweat. "You are the Goddess of Childbirth. I have heard that it is remarkably similar, just far more intense."

"You - don't - say," Artemis spat, her entire body shaking. "I will - fuck that hurts - _kill_ you later." Allie wasn't even sure if she was serious. Artemis was doing an incredible job of mangling both her hands.

Artemis released another chilling scream, animals automatically coming to her aid at the sound of her pain. Damien waved his hand, creating a forcefield that they couldn't penetrate. They doe's shrill cry of desperation could be heard even over the sound barrier.

"Uggh," Artemis moaned, her pitch slowly raising until she was once again howling. "Oh - oh god that _hurts_!" Damien nodded sympathetically.

"We know Artemis." he said gently. "We know. It'll get better, I swear. Just another minute." Artemis started to sob from the absolute agony, but it seemed that it was lessening slightly. Her body stopped spasming at every scream, and her heaving chest relaxed slightly.

After a few minutes, she let out a gasp and collapsed. She stared at the ceiling, looking at the strange starfish shaped light hanging from the cabin roof.

"Wow." She turned heavily to Allie, lying in a pool of her own sweat and blood. She took another breath before addressing Damien. "I really hate bunnies."

Allie hugged her, crying in the knowledge that Artemis didn't hate her for putting her through that experience.

"You're okay, right?" Allie asked worriedly as she helped Artemis stand up on shaky legs. The goddess just weakly tried to bat at Allie's face with her hand.

"I'm fine," she said drowsily. "Just need a good rest..."

"Wait," Allie said, her guilt melting her inside. "There's something you need to know. Kirsten." Their auburn haired aunt turned to her curiously.

"What about Kirsten? She's been missing since we got here, she didn't make the teleportation here." Allie bit her lip, knowing that Artemis didn't realize the importance of that information.

"Artemis, my teleportation only transports those whose hearts are overcome with more light than dark. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Damien turned to look at her, concern in his eyes.

"It means, that this… Kirsten, was it? Well, she was not on our side. Can you guess who she was working for?" His voice was soothing, gentle, and Allie felt that it was impossible to love him more than at that moment.

Artemis sniffled slightly, her face falling at the mention of her sister. "Order," she said sadly. "I knew there was something off ever since you wiped her memories. She was more closed off. Spiteful. I'm - I'm _s-sorry._ " Artemis seemed to loathe the word. "Life just hit me in the face... I finally realized how blind I've been all these years."

Allie just hugged her, and not a moment later Damien also wrapped his large arms around both of them. "No need to apologize," he said honestly. "I just hope you're okay. You can get through this."

Artemis gave a watery smile. "I know I can. I lost a sister, but I gained a niece and nephew. And that makes it worth it."

She drew them both in fiercely, morphing into her thirty year old form and hugging them tightly. "You both are so mature, yet so young," she said, her voice filled with hope. "Don't you ever change."

\- Linebreak -

"Artemis!" Allie said cheerfully, approaching her happily and with great enjoyment. She pranced around the woman for a second before coming to a halt and watching her eyes spin.

"Allie," Artemis greeted her with equal enthusiasm, if slightly more poised. Her eyes were still slightly unfocused as she tried to center on the Allie in front of her rather than the ones dancing in her vision. "What's going on?"

Allie giggled. "Do I need a reason any time I want to speak with my Aunt?" Artemis rolled her platinum eyes though they were twinkling slightly.

"No, of course not," Artemis chuckled. "But usually, there is a good reason for you wanting to see me."

Allie tried not to look too sheepish. "Well, I wanted to ask you whether you wanted to see a doctor about your aching."

Artemis rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that week, crossing her hands on her hips. " _No_ , Allie, I'm fine. It's basically gone now anyways."

"Well, I think you _should_ go! It would be great for -" Allie was cut off suddenly as somebody cleared their throat behind her.

She spun around, knives unsheathed and pinned him, not recognizing his aura. She stayed there like that for a second, reading his emotions, and finally released him.

"Soldier," Allie said, saluting the man in uniform, the Chaos insignia shining on his chest. "Identification please."

He handed her his ID with a charming smile, his emerald eyes wide and intelligent. He was handsome, in a sort of roguish way, with a crooked smile and features that looked as if they had been carved from marble.

"Captain James Jones," he introduced, and Allie staggered back. _Well, isn't fate a bitch._

 _James Jones._

 _Kirsten Jones._

Jamie Jones.

 _Shit._

\- Linebreak -

 **This chapter is mainly dedicated to my biggest supporter: this person has been so nice and encouraging. I probably would have given up from lack of reviews without them. So, thank you so much. CALEFE, everyone! *Crowd Cheers in Background* Also, this is for the people who reviewed, asking the Damien have a larger part in the story. Well, I combined the different stations so that they could work together. 3 Remember, the more reviews, the faster I update (:**


	15. Chapter 15

"There's no way," she breathed, desperately scanning through the packet with something similar to trepidation in her eyes. "There's _no_ way… Why are you here soldier?"

He shrugged. "I just became the General, the rank below the Guardians, of course," he said bowing to her, "Before she died, Commander Chaos came to speak with me… personally." His eyebrows were knotted in confusion. "She ordered me to come find Atalanta Chaos and give her this." He motioned to the map in his hand.

"I had to take a spaceship, she refused to teleport me. That's why it took me so long to complete my mission. I think she intended it to be so." He handed her the map.

As her fingers connected with the worn material, Allie felt a slight buzzing at her fingertips. A soft blue light shone and sealed them to the piece of paper. Despite the amount of force she tried to use to separate it, her fingers seemed to be permanently glued. Allie's eyes widened as words slowly began to appear on the page.

 _I'm sorry Allie. I lied to you: the pill didn't kill him, it temporarily stopped his heart so that when his sister had gone I could restart it and teleport him to me. I saw the potential in him right away, but everybody had to believe he was dead. I let him keep his name because I knew he wanted to find his sister one day. I visited you in the hospital. I never thought it would have such an effect on his sister; she, as well as you, have my deepest apologies. As for the prophecy, I managed to extract it from his memory and obliterate it. Tell him all but the bit about the prophecy._

Allie stumbled backwards, almost retching as she realized what her mother had done. She sat down hastily on a broken tree stump, feeling a mixture of grief and betrayal. Her mother had known how terribly Allie had felt, how she had been absolutely destroyed after her mission. And still she had kept this secret.

Allie had slowly begun to realize that Lady Chaos was not as infallible as she had always believed she was. Even the greatest people made mistakes, and Allie hoped eventually she would manage to forgive her mother for her actions, and by extension, herself.

"James..." She muttered, testing the name on the tip of her tongue. She shot a look at Artemis, who nodded and started to retreat from the scene. After Allie watched her auburn hair disappear into the trees, she turned to face Kirsten's brother once more.

He raised an eyebrow. "Have we met? I've heard about the fabled Atalanta Chaos before, and I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting you."

She gestured with her hands as she tried to explain. "The - the..." She broke off, tears running down her face. He immediately reached into his jacket and gave her his napkin. "I gave you t-the p-pill," she managed to mumble.

His expression softened as he looked at her broken form. "Ah… I'd almost forgotten that was you. I forgave you for that eons ago. You believed entirely what you said. It just took some resistance before I listened to our Commander."

She couldn't help it. She threw herself into his arms. "Oh thank Chaos..." She mumbled, still trying not to sniffle all over his uniform. "I'm so, so, so sorry. I have no words. I'm _so_ sorry."

Her rubbed her back gently. "Don't worry Miss Chaos, I was just a kid, and you gave me the opportunity to do something other than living on the streets. I'm happy now."

Allie shook her head fervently. "There has to be something I can do. I must at least try to repay your kindness."

He looked at her in a sort of depressed aura. "Well there is one thing… Kirst. Do you remember her? She was, no, _is_ my sister. Chaos told me she was alive and on this planet, which was why I was so eager to complete the mission. Now that it's done, I want to find her. Can you help me?"

Allie's mouth went dry and her heart sank into her stomach. "Oh my Chaos..." she whimpered. "Oh gods..."

His eyes shot wide with alarm. "Are you okay Miss Chaos?" He asked, reaching for her shoulders and supporting her from a respectful arms length.

"Yes, yes..." she waved him off, wondering how she would break the bad news. She felt sick to her stomach already, and couldn't imagine his anticipation.

"Are you sure Miss Chaos?" Her asked carefully.

"Yes. I'm fine," she said firmly, however didn't protest when he lead her back to the log she had been originally sitting on.

"I… Kirsten is..." Allie began slowly, quietly loathing the hope on his face. "She's working for - for..." Allie took another breath. "Your sister is working for Order."

There was a split second of silence, and then James recoiled, kneeling on the ground as he struggled with his disbelief. "No," he said quietly. "That's not the girl I know. That can't be her. You're mistaken, Miss Chaos, that isn't Kirsten."

She touched his face gently, starting to cry as well. "It is, General. I'm sorry. I-I don't know what you want me to do. You at least have my promise that I will not wound her on the battlefield."

James's face was frozen, but he managed a stiff nod. His entire body was jerky, and Allie could still only picture him as the small child that she had murdered.

"James," she said, calling him by his name for the first time. "Let me try something. It won't work for me, but perhaps it will for you." She reached into her boot and pulled out a golden drachma.

She placed it into his palm and focused the humidity of the camp into a certain spot, creating a light mist that formed a small rainbow.

"Okay," she instructed, "Throw the coin into the rainbow and say 'Please, Iris, I wish to speak with Kirsten Jones in Order's Army'. Can you do that?" He nodded, still looking numb. After he had done as she had asked, a small flickering screen appeared before them, showing the ragged golden hair of Kristen as she trained.

"Kirsten!" James yelled, reaching through the screen, but it just flickered. "It's just a call, James, you can't actually touch her," Allie said gently.

James didn't seem to listen - he was too busy drinking in every last detail. Kirsten flipped like an acrobat, releasing a roar and ruthlessly beheading one of the dummies surrounding her.

"Wow." He muttered. "She got meaner." Allie snorted. James didn't have any idea how cruel she had become. Allie fingered her arms self consciously, recounting when the blood had flowed like a river across them.

"Kirsten!" Allie called, but got no response. The girl was a whirlwind of destruction, obliterating dummies in what Allie finally realized was elemental magic.

Her heart sank even more as she realized the repercussions of Order's action. If he had granted Kirsten powers, she would be relentless in her pursuit of Allie. Nonetheless, Allie didn't want anymore trouble, especially after she had discovered she _hadn't_ murdered James.

" _Kirsten Hallen Jones!_ " James bellowed into the Iris message. Slowly, the figure turned around, shooting a murderous glare at the screen. Her rage only seemed to intensify when she recognised Allie began to march towards the screen furiously.

"What do you want?" She spat, yelling across the arena as she drew closer. "I'm tired of your existence, though you have a remarkable survival rate." She sneered in Allie's face. "Pity, isn't it?"

James looked taken aback at the venom in her voice and looked at her worriedly. "What's wrong with her? Why doesnt she like you?"

 _Understatement,_ Allie thought, inwardly rolling her eyes.

"She took your death pretty hard," Allie muttered back, making sure Kirsten was still too far away to hear. "Wants to torture me to death. I can't wait."

James blanched slightly. "That's not her," he replied discreetly. "It's one of her masks. I know her, and this isn't it."

Allie bit her lip. "People change," she said dejectedly.

His nostrils flared slightly, and he looked her directly in the eyes. "If there's one thing I've learned, Miss Chaos, is that family _never_ gives up on family."

She met his gaze. "Well, I hope so General," was all she said. Kirsten steadily grew closer, but wasn't quite stupid enough to swipe through the message.

"What the hell do you want? Come to take the second Lieutenant too?" Her voice was a mixture of anger and despair, her eyes too prideful to let the tears fall as they rested on James. She was probably noting the similarity between him and her dead brother.

"Who is this?" She asked spitefully. "Another of your boy-toys? Damien must be _devastated_." Allie ignored her, keeping steady eye-contact.

"What do you know about Hazel?" She asked, her voice quivering. " _What did you do to her?_ "

Kirsten gave a cruel laugh. "What did I do to her?" She snorted. "Please. She's on _our_ side, remember? I only got these powers because our first General is missing. She's not here anymore, and I'm her replacement. Frankly, if it makes you sad, I hope she's dead."

Allie lunged for the screen, only to dodge at the last second as she realized they would be disconnected if she passed through it.

"Shut up," she snarled, pacing back to James.

"And who's this?" Kirsten sneered, looking disdainfully at James.

"Don't you recognise him, Kirsten? He's - " Kirsten didn't let her finish, cutting her brutally off.

"He's male. His disgusting stench is wafting through the message! And then you ask me if I recognise him? What next? Dragging me on the streets to interview strangers?" Her voice was pungent with hate, and she waved her arms as if to help them understand how annoyed she was.

"You don't recognise me?" James said, his voice sounding suddenly small.

"Of course I recognise you," Kirsten said, rolling her eyes. "You are an idiot. Congratulations."

"But..." James clearly couldn't contain himself any longer. "I'm your brother."

She turned her cold gaze on him and her face cleared slightly. "Well, I have many demigod siblings," she said dismissively. "You can't expect me to keep track of all of them, especially not the boys."

Her hands were raised, and she was about to disconnect when James yelled, "Kirst!"

Allie could visibly see her adam's apple bobbing as she slowly lowered her hand. "What did you just call me?" She asked, her voice shaking.

There was silence.

" _What did you just call me?_ " She snarled again, the hope fading from her voice. Her gaze turned to Allie and she didn't think that that the hate burning in her eyes would ever distinguish. James's fists were clenched, his arms wired with fear at the thought of losing his sister simply because she didn't believe him.

"You. _You_ did this. This, by far is the _cruelest thing_ you have done to me, Atalanta. Mark my words, I _will_ be the one to kill you. You _will_ die by my hand." And with those parting words, she cut through the connection, her hands shaking in what could have been rage or terror.

After a few minutes of silence, James let out a heaving breath, his entire body trembling as he attempted to process his reconciliation with his sister.

"That went well," Allie said dryly, only realizing after the words had left her mouth how insensitive she sounded.

"Sorry," she blurted, annoyed that she was still as unaware of other's emotions as before. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean that." His face seemed to be forced into a permanent smile.

"It's okay," he said finally. "I'll go gather the army."

"Are you sure?" Allie gently checked. "Do you need anything? I'm so sorry I couldn't help with your sister."

"Yeah," he murmured. "I'll manage. The way I take my way off of things is to train with my comrades. Goodbye, Miss Chaos. Thank you for helping."

Allie tried not to look irritated. "I'm not a princess, James, just call me Allie."

He bowed again. "Yes, Miss Allie." She could see the beginnings of a smile forming at the corners of his mouth.

Allie clapped him on the back. "Okay, James. I suppose that's an improvement. I think." He gave a tiny laugh, looking unsure if he should be happy or crying.

"Goodbye, Miss Allie," he said, trudging off, likely to summon the army again. Allie sighed, watching him walk away from the hidden camp, and gently blessed him with resilience. She hoped that it would help him realize that if he wanted his sister back he couldn't give up on her.

\- Linebreak -

"Take that!" Allie cried, punching Damien in the face a few times.

He snorted, taking off his protective helmet. "I am so glad I was wearing this," he pointed out, standing up again.

"Really?" Allie said, smirking as she hooked her foot around his tendon and pulled, collapsing his legs under him. "Are you sure?"

"Helmet," Damien ordered, and Allie hastily plastered the lightweight protective gear on as he rushed her, throwing a flurry of blows at her shoulders. Allie rolled with her momentum, going past his jutted knee and jumped across his body to hold her arms around his neck.

"Surrender?" She demanded.

In response, he jutted his neck to the side, throwing her off so hard that she felt the impact from under her protection vest.

"Ow," she said, looking annoyed as she charged, ducking under his punches and flipping him on his exposed stomach. She lunged, imitating what she would have done if she had had a knife, and stabbed empty air.

Her head spun wildly, trying to locate Damien before he tripped her. Unfortunately, Allie wasn't lithe enough to escape his undercurrent as he sliced his legs below hers and knocked her to the floor.

"Ha," he smirked, hovering over her. Allie twisted, throwing her legs above his shoulders and launching herself above his grasp.

After a few more minutes of wrestling, they both found themselves face to face, trying to choke the life out of one another. Allie didn't even realize how close they were until their noses touched slightly.

Damien's eyes took on a strange glaze, and he started leaning forward, his eyes focused on her lips. For a reason Allie couldn't explain, she blushed bright red and released her hold on Damien, only for him to turn her over and pin her to the ground.

"Surrender?" he asked, smirking, and she punched twice him in the face in the space of a millisecond.

"No," she muttered, struggling to form a pout. "But it's because you haven't won, not because I don't feel like moving." And she slowly drew his head closer to hers, their lips brushing tenderly together -

Allie flipped him, trying to ignore her racing heart as she studied his pink tinted cheeks playfully. His sea green eyes were clouded with an emotion she couldn't quite identify. "Fall for it once, shame on you," Allie quoted, "Fall for it twice shame on me."

She managed a giggle, her senses suddenly hyper aware as she noticed Damien sitting up, and gently cradling her head between his fingers.Her legs were still wrapped around his stomach, and he easily supported himself without his arms. His hands were calloused and warm.

"Well, shame on us," he murmured, his thumbs stroking her cheeks, before closing the gap and kissing her softly. Allie's eyes shot wide in surprise and she almost pulled away before realizing what he was doing.

Allie was in heaven. It was like the scent of fresh air had been eased into her lungs and she could finally breathe. His lips tasted like caramel and salt and just a tinge of seaweed. The kiss was slow and gentle, most unlike anything she had ever had with Jason. It was tender, kind, and patient, as if he was trying to convey all of those emotions to her in one gesture.

She finally melted into his embrace, wrapping her arms up around his neck as she metaphorically became a puddle of chocolate. Damien sighed contentedly, and moved one of his hands to rest protectively on her back, holding her closer to him.

After a couple of seconds, they drew away, their eyes meeting in surprise. Damien finally seemed to realize what he'd done, his eyes widening in what could have been guilt and mortification.

"I'm sorry Allie," he managed to say, "I don't know what came over me, I'm so, so - " Allie silenced his apology with another searing kiss, her toes tingling as she initiated contact.

"Oh," he said dumbly. Allie laughed, kissing him again gently. His eyes lit up and he smiled, the grin splitting his entire face.

"Come on, Trident Face," she mocked him, "We still have to train." Damien looked exasperated, but he was absolutely glowing in both amazement and euphoria. He planted his lips on hers, leaving them slightly swollen.

"We're back to Trident Face, are we?" He said playfully. "How about every time you call me that, I get a kiss?" His face was alight with hope, and he stuck his lower lip out pleadingly.

Allie shook her head, even as she leaned forward to peck his lips. "Of course not, Fish Boy," she retorted, laughing at his expression. "That just wouldn't be fair."

He just gave a deep chuckle and kissed her once more.

\- Linebreak -

"Wait." Artemis said, looking absolutely befuddled. "You said… you said you _weren't_ coupling." Her silver eyes were wide with confusion, and she looked at them bemusedly, as if they were a science hypothesis that hadn't been tested yet.

"Well, yes," Allie said confidently. "But now we are a _couple_."

Damien tried not to laugh. "Artemis, I promise you that we're not coupling." Allie smacked the back of his head in exasperation and ignored his knowing smirk.

"But you just said you were a couple," Artemis said, her brows furrowed. "How can you not be coupling?"

Allie watched her with slight trepidation. "You know, Aunt, you're taking this better than I thought you would."

Artemis looked at her in exasperation. "Well yes. I did tell you that he was the only male I approved of, didn't I?" She turned to face Damien. "You deserve to find a new girlfriend after ABC."

Damien turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised. "You told her our codename for Annabeth?" He asked, trying to keep the amused expression from his face.

"Maybe?" Allie said sheepishly. She gently pecked him on the cheek.

"Eugh!" Artemis said loudly, unsubtly muttering, "Stop that before I upchuck." Allie laughed at her expression, sharing a devious look with Damien.

He kissed her flat on the lips, keeping Artemis in the corner of his eye as he did so, watching her shield her eyes in 'terror'. Allie was struggling to keep their lips connected, she was laughing so hard. Damien was clearly having the same problem, drawing away to cough slightly into his hand as he gave out slight hiccups of laughter.

"My eyes," Artemis moaned, covering them with her hands. "My eyes..."

Allie roared with laughter, slapping the ground with her palms. "Oh by Chaos. That was hilarious."

Artemis finally peeked from behind her barrier. Slowly, her palms separated and she sighed in relief as she realized they were no longer kissing. "So you two are coupling then?" This time it was Damien who collapsed in laughter.

"Coupling," he snorted loudly, his amusement ricocheting off the walls and back to Artemis who looked distinctly unimpressed.

"Ahem," she said irritably. "I resent that, you know."

Allie just chuckled, finally deciding to bring her Aunt into the light. "Artemis, there is no such thing as 'coupling'. When you are in a relationship, you are a 'couple'. At least, I think that's what Earthens still say."

"Yes, I think I've heard things like that," Artemis admitted, her shoulders raising in an eventual shrug.

Allie smiled. "So basically, me and Damien,"

"Damien and I," Artemis corrected absentmindedly.

"Yes, Damien and I are a couple. Which means that we are boyfriend and girlfriend," Allie tried to explain as thoroughly as she could.

"So you are coupling?" Artemis clarified.

" _No,_ " Allie and Damien both chorused in exasperation. Artemis shook her head fervently, her long auburn hair whipping from side to side.

"Kidding!" Artemis informed them. "I'm joking. I know, you two are a couple. Got it. How did this happen?" For the first time since she had entered the tent, Allie blushed.

"Um, I was hitting him and then he kissed me," she managed.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Figured," she said, though her eyes glinted in slight approval. "Is this the coupling ceremonies of all boyfriends and girlfriends?"

Damien was about to open his mouth to voice his indignation but Artemis cut him off. Allie was too busy facepalming to speak.

"Kidding," Artemis repeated, stifling a grin. "I always knew you two were the odd ones."

"Hey!" Damien protested, looking put out. "Oh. Actually, never mind. Normal is far too overrated anyway."

Allie laughed, punching his arm slightly. "At least we can agree on one thing," she said. Damien just hooked an arm around her and started subtly tickling her ribs.

Artemis wrinkled her nose. "Seeing you together is going to be torture, isn't it?"

"Yes," Damien and Allie both chorused, exchanging a devious glance at their Aunt's expression. "Most definitely yes."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Well, you have my blessing, I suppose. Normally, I would either kill the male, or if I was feeling lenient, drive him off with a stick and a warning. Because I care for you both equally, I will tell you that if either of you hurt one another," she glared at both of them, "I will hunt - you - down."

Allie had to bite back her shudder. "Duly noted."

"So..." Damien said, looking at Artemis hopefully. "You're okay with us dating?" The red haired beauty looked exasperatedly in his direction.

"Did that part where I said I'd hunt you down just float in one ear and out the next?" Her voice was scolding, and Damien automatically shrank back.

"Sorry, Auntie Artemis." The tips of her ears blushed golden in pleasure though her face remained impassive.

"Whoa," Allie said aloud, watching as Artemis's skin faded to normal. "I totally forgot that your blood was golden. We blush red and have platinum blood, how does that work?"

Artemis sighed, looking as if she was trying not to growl at her stupidity. "Well, gods and goddesses can hide their blood from mortals and such, but it takes concentration. When I'm in my human form, I can't just waltz into a cafe, get angry at a stupid male, and turn bright yellow as the blood rushes to my face. We just subtly alter the mist so that the mortals see that they expect to see."

"Oh..." Allie said, the understanding creeping up in her brain.

"In conclusion, gods and goddesses do blush golden, but are given powers to hide it so that we blend in. You on the other hand, I assume it is just a natural defence mechanism gifted to you with your powers. You probably don't require concentration to have the appearance of red blood. You magic just reacts to the person you are used to being - mortal - and recalls the blood you had at that point and replicates it on the surface of your skin."

"Oh," said Damien, mirroring Allie from a few seconds before. "Okay, I get it." Allie had to think about it for a few more seconds before agreeing with Artemis's theory.

"How is it possible that you know more about this than us?" She chuckled, eyeing her aunt.

Artemis just smirked. "It pays to pay attention to detail," she said simply. She morphed into her seventeen year old form and looked at them sternly.

"The first lesson I can teach you is to only trust those who you would die for. Any less and they can stab you in the back with no repercussions." Allie bowed her head.

When she had been small, she had dreamt of sacrificing herself for Jason, stepping in front of him to receive a blow meant for him. Now, she scoffed at the simple idea. Perhaps she had loved Jason, but she was only a schoolgirl, a small portion of the woman she was today.

Love was an enigma, and the more Allie reflected on it, the more certain she was that she had never loved Jason Grace. Or rather, that it was a one-sided love. Jason's one and only love was himself.

Allie was snapped out her thoughts when Artemis cleared her throat. Damien too jumped, and they both glanced at one another, the haunted look in their eyes confirming they were thinking about the ones who had broken their hearts.

"Annabeth is just a personification of hubis," Artemis said gently, addressing Damien. "Though you hate her, you haven't totally blamed her for what she did. You hold partial responsibility on your shoulders, because your loyalty prohibits you from putting the entire fault on her shoulders."

She stared into his eyes. "You are too loyal, Perseus, and she was too selfish. Annabeth took advantage of you because she knew you would stick by you forever."

Artemis turned to Allie. "You are a wild spirit, Piper," she said calmly. "You thought you needed Jason, because he was your rock. He was… pardon the metaphor, order. You were chaos. You thought that you would just drift away, and you needed him to keep you on the ground."

Damien turned to look at her in surprise, but she looked at the ground, embarrassment clouding her gaze. Artemis was relentless, pushing on despite the obvious pain both were in.

"You didn't realize, Piper," her Aunt said gently, "That he wasn't a rock for you to hold onto, a savior. He was the chains that bound you, prevented you from being free. You thought you loved him, but you really just were under the illusion that you needed him. He was safe. And Perseus was wild. And despite wanting to love Perseus, you chose safe, just as he chose Annabeth."

Perseus's breath hitched. "You had feelings for me even then?" He asked, his voice hesitant.

"Yes." Allie said in a small voice. "But I didn't act on those feelings."

Artemis nodded sadly. "I hate Aphrodite, there is no question about that. She is the polar opposite of what I stand for. However, I pity her children greatly."

She and Allie shared a look. "You haven't told him," Artemis recognised. She sent Allie a dejected glance. "Well, go on."

There was a long period of silence that no one dared to break.

"Being a Daughter of Love isn't fun." Allie murmured finally. "It's torture. Because you are always aware of the pain, of the grief. Drew… I thought she was just a… well… I don't want to say it out loud. But now I can understand her pain. Daughters of love hate to fall in love, because once they get their hearts broken, it stays with them forever."

"Forever." Damien echoed, seeming to not understand the concept.

"It's called the Curse of Aphrodite," Allie said sadly. "My mother is beautiful. What do you think the price was? She is destined to destroy all she loves. Whatever she touches… it turned as black as the soul that cursed her. She wants love more than anything, but it's was already written in the stars. Permanent."

Artemis slowly started to pale, starting to realize that her nemesis hadn't been completely selfish when she had broken her half-brother, Hephaestus's heart. Damien just looked at her. "It's impossible for the dreams to stay with you forever."

"Damien, I've tried." Allie said, her voice shaky. "You have nightmares, I have nightmares. But mine are different, they will never fade. Only one thing can alter that prophecy, and it's dead. I researched this for years, anything to make the dreams go. But they won't. Yours will. And I'm happy for you."

Damien shook his head in disbelief. "How is that possible? Nothing is forever. _Nothing._ "

Allie just sighed at his narrow minded thinking. "Damien, what do we consider earth?"

"Just a planet," he responded out of instinct. "It's just a planet."

Allie looked at him. "The planets orbiting Merioupia are all important. Every one of them. Because there is always a bigger creator. We respect Chaos, because she was the creator of the universe. _This_ universe."

"What do you mean, this universe?" Damien asked, his eyes wide as he tried to digest the information he was being given.

"We are always smaller than something else. It is a chain of life. I have a theory, and it is that every single act in life happens for a reason. Perhaps it is something bigger than us, bigger than Chaos. My theory is that perhaps this is just a universe. And that there are many more. Perhaps a parallel universe, in which I was never born, or a paradox, in which you and I represent dark and Order is leading the good forces."

Damien frowned. "I don't understand. What does this have to do with your nightmares?"

Allie just rolled her eyes. "Listen to me Damien. I'm not saying we're not important, I'm just saying that there was more powerful people than us out there. And they could be like the gods for all we know, playing us like puppets."

Damien didn't look too cheered by this thought.

"But I know that my dreams, _they are there for a reason_." Allie stated this firmly, knowing that it was true. "These other people, more powerful people must have some morals. They are not just being cruel. And I'll let them have the benefit of doubt, and tell you that they created the Curse of Aphrodite for a purpose."

"And that purpose is?" Damien asked, a vein starting to pulse in his forehead.

"Damien, _listen to me_!" Allie demanded. "I did the research, okay? All children of Aphrodite are born with a gene to possess incredible power. However, the only children to ever to possess this power have been daughters of Aphrodite who have had their hearts broken by those they considered their true love."

Allie paused to take a breath and take in the shock and horror on Artemis's face. It was clear she didn't have any in depth knowledge about the curse, only about the dreams.

"Unlike the Oracle's prophecies," Allie continued, "This one refers to more than one person, so it can happen to multiple people. The price for these powers, which includes _charmspeak_ , is that they will gradually develop powers and are given an opportunity to be more powerful than the gods."

"So Drew..." Damien said uncertainly.

"Yes. Drew must have gotten her heart broken in order to have gained charmspeak. I developed charmspeak early because fate had already seen my destiny and thought I deserved it early. I think this is why Drew hated me so much. She was bitter."

Damien felt his mouth go dry. "In that case… I never really apologized for being such an ass."

"Yeah, neither did I," Allie agreed softly. Artemis's mouth was still hanging open as she struggled to digest the information.

"So..." Damien said. "You said that there was only one thing that could change the prophecy and that it's dead. What is it?"

Allie looked grimly at the floor. "It was a being once spoken as the Dodona, the oracle of the Primordials. It is known as the oldest Hellenic Oracle, but was killed by Chaos's parents ten millennia ago. There isn't any hope for me," she said, looking at both of them sadly. "Sometimes it's better to give up than chase a dream that isn't there."

"No!" Damien denied vehemently. "That's not happening. Whatever people are out there, messing with your life, we're going to make them stop."

Allie just shook her head. "My dreams are a part of me. I don't have demigod dreams, but I will always be reminded that the worst part of my life is behind me." Allie eyed Damien wryly, "And that my future is brighter now than it ever was."

Artemis didn't even wince when Damien planted a chaste kiss on Allie's cheek. Actually, Artemis looked quite ill for a different reason.

"Did Aphrodite know all this?" She asked Allie, a look of trepidation on her face. "Does she know all of this?"

Allie looked at her horrified expression, feeling the fight melt completely out of her. "Yes, Artemis," Allie said curiously.

"Why did she never tell the council?" Artemis asked, her face a mask of despair. "I - I could have helped! I… I said such terrible things… I didn't know. I didn't know the curse went that far."

"Would you have believed her?" Allie fired back, looking directly. "If you hadn't known I was Piper McLean, would you have believed _me_?"

Artemis didn't seem to know what to say. "No," she admitted.

"Well, there's your answer," Allie said, feeling absolutely drained. She had revealed so many of her secrets that day, and she wasn't sure if she regretted it or not. Time would tell.

"I-I have to go," Artemis said shakily. "I must apologize to Aphrodite." She bowed her head to Allie and Damien. "Stay safe, you two," she managed, before flashing away in a sizzle of sparks and light.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a second, before both jumping as they felt a poke in the barriers they had set up around camp. With a glance, they both leapt to their feet and ran to the borders of Camp Jupiter.

Campers were already gathered around the figure, and Allie could see that the barriers were almost fully torn down. There was a sudden haunting scream and Allie saw white light flare wildly from the corner of her vision.

She and Damien raced for it, finally stopping at the campers who had crowded in a circle.

"Move!" Allie barked, her chest thumping wildly as she tried to find the threat. " _Move it, now!_ " Damien combined his air currents with hers to sweep the them away from the epicenter of the problem.

Allie froze as she saw the figure, huddled in a pool of her own sweat. White light flickered uncontrollably at the tips of her fingers and wispy strands of her matted hair. Her wide eyes were filled with tears.

"Help me, Annabeth," Hazel said, looking directly at Allie. "I-I can't control it… _help me_."

 **\- Linebreak -**

 **Thank you for reading and reviewing! If you haven't guessed it yet, Order had been manipulating Hazel, making her believe that 'Annabeth' is the hooded figure called Atalanta. Using this hatred, he made her the base of his command. I hope this clears some things up, I know this chapter was a bit confusing. Remember the more reviews/favorites/follows, the faster I update! More will be explained in the next chapter, I promise (weekly updates). Thank you for reading! 3**


	16. Chapter 16

"H-Hazel?" Allie stammered, disbelief clouding her features. "Why - why are you… why?"

Hazel just coughed up something distinctly red into her palm and looked at them, hatred burning in her eyes even as she begged.

"Help me," she repeated weakly. Her eyes closed and she fell, limp, to the muddy ground. Her ragged clothing was drenched with effort and studded with branches and thorns. Allie immediately lifted Hazel with air currents, conjuring a stretcher esque motion as she whisked her friend away to the infirmary.

"Out!" Damien barked, sending the campers scattering back into their bunks. He eyed Hazel, half-suspicious, half-devastated, and resolved to keep a close eye on her. Unlike Allie, whom he knew trusted Hazel implicitly; he hadn't known Hazel well enough to recognize her intentions.

"Keep up," Allie growled foully as she ran, emanating pure terror. She rushed into the room, gently clearing a nearby bed and setting her in it. Her hands flitted nervously over Hazel as she tried to decide what the problem was.

"It's not physical," Allie said, not one minute later. Her fingernails were caked with Hazel's blood. "You saw the white light?"

Damien nodded, before realizing she wasn't facing him. "Yes," he said aloud.

Allie scanned over her one more time. "I can sense it. Order… he wiped her mind. There's something wrong with her, it's like she's going mad, but she's not. There's a counter force."

Damien walked up next to her, closing his eyes and scanning her system. "A counter force? I didn't know that was possible."

"I didn't either," Allie agreed. "This is weird, but without this force she would be crazy right now. So whatever it is Order was trying to do to her, he failed. She's still sane."

"Allie..." Damien said hesitantly as he finished his scan. "I don't sense any force."

"What do you mean?" Allie said, trying not to sound annoyed. "I just told you, I found it. Pulsing white, almost blinding. It's powerful, really powerful. It's coming from her chest, right over her heart. How can you not feel it?"

Damien shrugged, scanning her again. His voice was cold with annoyance. "I'm not lying, if that's what you think. Maybe it's only you?" Allie felt slightly lighter suddenly, her feet drifted off the ground for a second. Complete bliss filled her and her chest was filled with pride and sudden dignity. She stayed there for a second before her body sank again.

"Allie!" Damien said worriedly. He shook her, as if trying to rattle her head.

"Agh," she moaned, "Stop it! What's wrong with you?" Allie's mind spun, and she tried not to be sick. The delightful elation that had enloped her sank into nothingness.

"You… your eyes. They glowed silver. Not black, _silver_." His eyes were wide with confusion and uneasiness as he eyed her. "I don't like this," he said quietly. "Not at all."

"Don't be ridiculous, Damien," Allie retorted, irritation clouding her rationality. "That's impossible. Anyway, I'm not important: Hazel is."

He gave a murmur of agreement, bending down to get a better look at her. "So… white light that no one can sense but you. Great. Now what?"

Allie shrugged. "We have to first stabilize her. Her heartbeat is going crazy. I don't think we can do much else." He measured the seconds and handed her the watch that he drew out of his pocket.

"Ready?" He said harshly. His hands were placed on both of her ribs, and he sent a few bolts of electricity into them. Hazel's body twitched.

"Yeah," Allie murmured, "Don't hurt her _please._ " Allie took another breath. "One."

Hazel moaned slightly as she jolted from the flow of electricity being transmitted through her body. The tips of her frizzy hair sparked, but the white light quickly extinguished it.

Allie bit her lip. "Two." Damien sent a slightly larger bolt through her and she jumped almost an inch.

"Damien!" Allie cried. "Be careful!" He just shook his head in bewilderment.

"Chaos taught me this herself," Damien said convincingly. "I know I did this right. She shouldn't have felt pain at all. It could be the after effects of the mind-wipe. Either way, there's only one left, and then she'll have a good long sleep."

Allie sighed. "Okay. But you _be careful with my sister_. Ready?"

"Yes," he said determinedly. His hands were fizzing as he closed his eyes and held the power there for a few seconds.

"Three," Allie breathed. Nobody had ever died from just settling the heart, but from her scans, Hazel wasn't exactly average. Her friend's heart was beating more erratically than ever, and while Allie was certain this final bolt would calm it, she was afraid it would end her life.

Damien released the blue bolt into her system, sighing in relief as it sank into her gently, without any opposition.

"I don't understand. She shouldn't have felt that much pain for the first two," he said quizzically. "And she should have felt just a twinge with that last one. But her face didn't even - "

Hazel let out a low moan that rose into a scream.

"Shit." Damien said simply. He tried to retrieve the power, but he was thrown backwards by a sudden bang. Several sleeping occupants in the hospital looked around curiously for the loud noise and Allie flicked her hand to form a sound ward.

Damien staggered back into it and Allie's heart clenched as she saw his charred clothes. She turned back to Hazel, fear creeping like ice into her veins. She reached forward and gently touched Hazel's scarred shoulder only to be thrown back.

"Ow!" She muttered, proceeding to cuss several times. "Damnit that hurt." She rushed back to Hazel, intent on helping her, only to be tossed back again. Allie was almost unaware of her surroundings, the only thing in her vision was her friend's flickering irises being consumed by the light.

It was strangely reminiscent of something, a long time ago that was locked into her memory. Perhaps the white light was not helping her, but _harming_ her. Allie recalled the sickly sheen of white that had spread across Chaos's eyes as Order had tried to possess her. Her mother had been forced to spend centuries recovering. This alone hardened her resolve as she ran.

She ran to her for the third time, but a firm arm stopped her. "Allie, you're not helping," Damien said gently. Tears were running down Allie's cheeks. Damien quickly cast a vision distorting charm on the sound ward so that none of the campers could see what was happening.

"Let me go," Allie snarled, straining against him as Hazel gave another moan. Blood trickled softly out of her open mouth. Her lips were painted cherry red.

"No," Damien said firmly. "There's nothing we can do now. She has to fight this on her own." Allie's arms reached towards her, but Damien held them away from Hazel.

" _Let me go!_ " Allie repeated, kicking him roughly to the ground. She flipped him, and Damien, who wasn't expecting the attack, couldn't do anything as she knocked him out. She rushed once again to her friend and wasn't surprised when the backlash knocked her off her feet and out of the ward.

"As many times as I have to," Allie growled, rushing to Hazel once again, but was halted in her footsteps. Instead of the translucent white that Chaos had seen, Hazel's eyes were the texture of silk.

She was no longer bleeding, no longer dirty. Hazel sat in a soft, white, cotton dress, tinged slightly at the tips with gold. Her eyes were firm yet gentle, as she turned to Allie. The knowledge that lay within the depths seemed almost infinite, and Allie found that she couldn't look away. A raspy voice emerged from Hazel's form and her aura flared immensely as each word punctuated the humid air.

 _A child of Night will free the fire in chains,_

 _Discover their weakness, discover her bane,_

 _In different ropes to make one drown,_

 _The daughter of Pluto is once again bound,_

 _The skull of weakness is soon revealed,_

 _For the Night's greatest secret will not stay concealed._

The white died and Hazel gasped, breaking from her trance. She looked around blearily, her hand still resting stoic on her heart.

"Wha- what?" Allie's voice was choked with emotion. Hazel was supposed to have been put into a long sleep - on in which she was allowed to heal, to _recover_.

"A-Annabeth," Hazel said uneasily, backing away as far into the covers as she could. Her nostrils flared, a small sign of defiance. "I - I'm okay now. I didn't mean what I s-said. I guess I'll j-just be going..."

"No," Allie cried just as Hazel made a run for it, sprinting across the sound ward nimbly. Allie froze the water in Hazel's body with ease, just enough to freeze her in place. She gently lifted the struggling Hazel back onto the bunk.

"Haze, stop it," Allie murmured, patting her forehead tenderly. "You're going to get hurt. You're already hurt." She revealed the large bloody cut on Hazel's leg.

" _Don't call me Haze_ ," Hazel bellowed, her voice resounding and shattering the sound ward. Allie's mouth hung open as she struggled to understand why her sister hated.

"What - I don't - _What_?" Allie could only splutter. "You're acting really weird, Hazel. You are… Hazel, right?"

Hazel's eyes narrowed with venom and she struggled against the invisible binds Allie had strapped her in.

"You bitch," she spat. "Just let me go. I don't know why I came here - it certainly wasn't _my_ choice. You saw that white light, you saw it's power. It's controlling me. Manipulating me. Everyone, _everyone_ is doing that! Do you want to be the fifth?"

Allie swallowed so hard that she was sure Damien, unconscious, heard it.

"Hazel, I'm not going to keep you here. The first part of friendship is trust, and if I can't give you that, I can't give you anything." Allie slowly released the binds, her eyes locked on Hazel's the entire time.

"If you want to go, go," Allie growled, turning away so that Hazel couldn't see the teardrops from below the hood.

There was no movement from Hazel's corner of the room, and Allie was almost certain that she'd teleported away in the time Allie had temporarily lifted the boundaries.

"Why didn't you kill me? Why do you… trust me?" Hazel's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion. Allie slowly turned back to face her.

"What?" Allie asked confusedly.

" _You. Didn't. Kill. Me._ Why?" Hazel's voice was a mixture of hatred and bewilderment. "I'm never getting straight answers. Not from Master, not from anyone in the army. I don't care how much we despise one another, if you can tell me the truth, do it now."

"Haze, I..." Allie began.

"Don't." Hazel said, her teeth gritted so tightly Allie thought that they might shatter. Her arms were wired, as if she was physically forcing herself not to launch herself at Allie and rip her throat out.

"Don't?" Allie repeated in confusion.

"Don't call me Haze," She said darkly, her eyes shining with tears. "That is reserved for only one person. And it's most certainly not you, Annabeth. You already killed her."

Allie froze. "Annabeth?" She echoed, her voice a mixture of incredulous and horrified. "You… you think I'm _Annabeth_?"

Hazel just sneered. "You already made that quite clear when you tried to attack me." Her arms were crossed, crinkling the beautiful dress that adorned her.

"I - _I_ attacked _you_?" Allie said disbelieving. "Gods, Hazel, what did Order do to you? I was defending my friends, who, may I add, you kidnapped! I tried not to hurt you and offered you quarter! What on earth did I do to you?"

"You killed me, you absolute liar! You see this?" Hazel violently lifted her shirt, exposing a sleek pale scar that contrasted thickly with her skin. "This is the scar from where you stabbed me. Your damn dagger, right there. Through my ribs."

"Hazel! By Chaos! I am not freaking _Annabeth Chase!_ " Allie was open mouthed by this point. Her body vibrated slightly in indignation at the thought of her being that horrible excuse for a human being.

"Are you kidding me?" Hazel demanded. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Allie's heart broke slightly as she recalled the young brown skinned girl, scolding everyone around her for cursing.

"You _did_ attack me," Hazel continued. "Yes, I took your friends, but I wasn't torturing them. Those idiots, I just chained them up. And then you come, looked at me, and took off your hood. I loathe you, Annabeth. You took off your hood and just laughed. You were laughing at _me_. At my pain. The pain _you caused me_."

Allie shook her head. "I didn't do that Hazel." She narrowly avoided called her 'Haze'. "I promise you, I didn't do that. I swear."

Hazel scoffed. "Yes, because the girl who killed my sister is likely to look me in the face and swear she didn't try to hurt me. I appreciate the sentiment, but if you aren't actually going to tell me anything, I'm going to take you up on that offer of leaving."

"No!" Allie protested, stopping her as she tried to leave.

"No?" Hazel asked, her voice suddenly dangerous. "Will you deny me this? The proposition that you _'trusted'_ me? I certainly can't say the same for you, but you could at least keep your word."

"No," Allie said exhaustedly. "I just want to figure this out. Clearly our memories are different, and there's only one person who could have altered yours."

Hazel seemed to battle uncertainty for a second, before her eyes hardened. "The only thing that is clear to me is that you're deluded."

"Hazel," Allie said in exasperation. " _Come on_. Don't you want to know what is going on? Just like old times. It'll be… fun."

"Old times," Hazel spat. "You mean the times before you killed Piper McLean? Thanks for that. I see your arrogance hasn't faded one bit."

Allie hardened her resolve. "Think about it Hazel. I have told you, I am _not_ Annabeth. Now, who do you think I am?"

"Yes, you've told me you aren't the murdering scum that killed my sister." Hazel looked immensely annoyed. "Thank you for clarifying that. There's just one problem: I don't trust murdering scum who kill other people's sisters. You have an issue with that?"

"No!" Allie said, her voice cracking, half annoyance, half despair. "I am not Annabeth. Okay? Gods." Allie prayed that what she was doing was something Chaos would have approved of. "I, Atalanta Chaos swear on my life, by Chaos, that I am not Annabeth Chase."

There was deathly silence. Though Hazel clearly didn't believe much else, she believed this. Hazel was not naive to oaths, and it was impossible to break one evoked by the creators name.

"I - I don't believe you," Hazel said finally, her voice more uncertain than ever. "It's possible that because Chaos is dead the oath didn't work."

"Are you _serious_?" Allie almost screamed at her, bitterness welling up. She felt disgusted that she had used her Chaos's name to prove a statement. Now that she was dead, Chaos was supposed to be honored, not sullied with simple lies. Allie made a silent vow to never speak her name in order to prove something to someone else.

" _What the hell do you want me to swear on_?" Allie demanded. "Was my _mother's grave_ not enough for you?"

Hazel looked slightly ashamed. "I'm only half-convinced. Swear it on his life." Hazel pointed down to Damien. Allie didn't even waver in her decision.

"No." Her voice was firm, steady and calm. "I will not swear, ever, on his name."

"No?" Hazel asked suspiciously. "Why?" Her gaze was impatient, but there was a sliver of respect that hadn't been there. Hazel thought that she was right in not using her friends as a martyr.

"He's my friend," Allie said simply. Hazel's left eyebrow rose as she surveyed her.

"Swear on Order then," Hazel said. "My master."

Allie snorted. "Gladly," she said annoyed. "I, Atalanta Chaos swear on my life, by Order, that I am not Annabeth Chase."

The second large silence of the day commenced.

"I..." Hazel cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I thought you were someone I hated." She had wrapped her arms around herself, as if cold. Allie inwardly sent warmth bubbling into Hazel, a talent she hadn't mastered until she had become half-primordinal.

"I can't do that," Hazel said, looking surprised. "You're a fire elemental?" An elemental was what a person was called who was gifted with these special powers. In Chaos's army, this rank was called the Guardians. In Order's, it was called the Reapers.

"...Yes," Allie lied as best she could. Though Hazel didn't hate her anymore, she was still a Reaper. She still worked for Order, for her _Master_. The word left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Hazel, don't freak out," Allie said gently. "I know you're not on our side. But you were running from something."

"Yes," Hazel said slowly, studying Allie's face. "I was running from my Master. Something… I don't know. The white light has been with me for some time. Sometimes I would be training and pass out. When I woke up I didn't remember anything. Later, my other associates would tell me that I was participating in a mission, or training an assassin. I… I was scared. I realized that every time I had those blackouts Master was nearby. So I ran."

Hazel looked so ashamed of herself that Allie felt sick to her stomach. "I'm sorry Hazel. I can't imagine."

"It's not even that," Hazel said despairingly. "You _aren't_ Annabeth. I know that now. When you took off your hood, I saw blonde curls. Stormy grey eyes. I _had seen_ Annabeth. I'm not an idiot, I can tell when a memory is fake. But this one… I didn't see it."

"Because you aren't Annabeth," she continued, "I know that somebody's been messing with my head. I keep getting terrible nightmares. Of mummies, and other things haunting me. And then I hear this raspy voice - "

"Raspy voice?" Allie interrupted, trying not to look too concerned.

Hazel seemed to snap out of it. "I'm… sorry. I don't know why i'm unloading on you like this. This is the strangest thing… but you were radiating this familiar aura. That's why I thought you were Annabeth. My - my Master told me it was so."

Her voice broke. "This means Master - no, _Order,_ has been messing with my memories." Allie's heart melted. "Hazel… I'm sorry. I imagine you thought of him as a father, just as Chaos was my mother."

Hazel's expression turned confused. " _Father_? I thought you were supposed to be clever." Her hand covered her mouth instantly. "I'm sorry," she hastily apologized. "My emotions are running high today. Please don't take it personally."

"Not at all," Allie said kindly. "So… not like a father?"

Hazel snorted. "No, more like a dictator. I knew that he didn't care about me sentimentally. I also knew that he saw potential with my hatred from the gods. That's the only reason he chose me to be his first Apprentice. I was nothing more than a pawn, and that's just how I liked it."

"Well," Hazel amended, right before Allie was about to speak. "Also, he was interested in my curse." Hazel reached her arm out, her fingers clasping firmly over a large diamond that had shot instantly from the ground. The gem shone brightly, the small spots of reflected light making their faces glow.

"You still have that thing?" Allie asked sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I know how much you hated it. Is there anything - "

Hazel cut her off, staring at her. Her gaze was a mixture of suspicion and curiosity. "How… How did you know about my curse?"

Allie bit her lip, her mind spinning rapidly. There were a million ways to do this and a million ways to mess up. She had to do this with precision and caution, so that she wouldn't sound like a rampaging bull in a china shop -

"I'm Piper," Allie blurted out, the words coming out of her mouth before the rational side of her brain could stop her. She inwardly facepalmed. "Nope, I am an idiot," she said out loud, her hand connecting instantly with her forehead.

"I'm sorry," Allie said gently, looking at Hazel's pallid face. "I didn't mean to sound so..."

But Hazel wasn't listening. She seemed to be looking straight through her. "It all makes sense…" Hazel choked, her eyes glassy as she ran through all their encounters that hadn't been altered by Order. Her pupils looked dazed and seemed to have a sudden sheen over them.

"Swear," she murmured.

"What?" Allie asked. Hazel's voice had been so inaudible that she hadn't caught her words. The tiny girl was shaking, with rage or fear Allie couldn't tell.

" _Swear!_ " Hazel screamed, her voice pungent with desperation and hope. She couldn't even steady her hands, they were trembling so bad. "Swear, please, by the gods, _swear_." Tears were welling in her eyes, creating an empty look that filled her almond shaped pupils.

"I - I," Allie stammered, not expecting such ferocity. "I s-swear on my life, by Order, that I am Piper M-McLean." Hazel's lips were parted in terror, waiting for Charon to come and take her away.

A full minute had passed and Hazel finally took a breath. "P-Piper?" She stammered, her voice audibly trembling. "Do - do you promise?"

After everything that had happened, the screaming matches, the accusations, Allie could only chuckle at the childlike question. "I promise Haze. And you know I never break my promises."

Hazel screamed again, tackling Allie and ripping off her hood. She was crying so much that her tears leaked off her face and onto Allie's own. Allie hugged her fiercely back, feeling the love for her sister rush up inside of her.

"Oh Haze," Allie sighed, gently holding Hazel's head against her shoulder. "I missed you."

Hazel just sobbed harder, clutching Allie as if she was her lifeline. "You - you… I thought you were dead. I thought you were _dead_!" Instead of getting angry like Allie expected, Hazel just clung desperately to her.

"I-I hate you," Hazel said, still trying to be mad. "I hate you so much." But Hazel couldn't contain the ecstatic smile that had broken out on her face.

Allie planted a tender kiss on her forehead, encircling Hazel within her reassuring arms. "I love you too, sis," she said fondly. "Welcome back."

And she hugged her more fiercely than ever.

"Welcome back."

\- Linebreak -

A few days later and Allie was no closer to forgiving Damien.

"Allie, I did my best to protect you," Damien protested. "You can't seriously hold that against me." Allie ignored him, pushing past him as if he didn't exist.

"Allie, look at me."

She refused to, pushing him away when he teleported in front of her.

" _Look at me_." His voice was firm. Reluctantly, Allie turned to face him. His face was a cloud of hurt, but this was one of the only times she wouldn't give in.

"One minute." She manage to growl, signalling the time she would give him to talk. Her anger was clouding her judgement, she could barely see him clearly. Small bolts of electricity tingled at her fingertips and she had to clench her fists to extinguish them.

"Allie please," Damien pleaded. He looked terrible, as if he hadn't slept in a week. His clothes were wrinkled and there were dark circles under his eyes. "I know it was a mistake, but it was for your own good - "

" _For my own good?_ " Allie hissed. "Since when did you get to decide what was _for my own good?_ " He retreated a step but didn't back down.

Her eyes turned murderous, a blur of colors as she tried to convey her rage without physically hurting him.

"You _held me back_ , Damien," Allie snarled. "You tried to stop me from helping my _sister_. She was _in pain_. That isn't something I'll just forgive. If I had to, I'd _gladly_ give my life for hers. You… you… just stay out of my way."

Allie was about to brush him off, but he gently tugged her arm back to him. "Please, Als." Her heart melted slightly at the nickname. "I know you trust Hazel, but after all these years I've learned to hold people at an arm's length. You know how loyal I am, but that's only to the people I trust. And Hazel's been gone a long time. I still don't know if we can - "

Allie grit her teeth, her eyes unconsciously hardening. Damien looked stricken as he realized what he had implied.

"I didn't mean that," he said hastily, but Allie just smiled sadly at him.

"You can't trust Haze, you can't trust me," she said simply.

Allie turned away and this time, Damien didn't stop her. She reached her tent, wiping away several tears in the process. Hazel leapt to her feet when Allie entered the room, relaxing, only to tense again when she saw her face.

"Piper?" Hazel murmured. "Gods, what's wrong?"

Allie just sighed. "Hazel, I don't really want to talk about it right now. Maybe later, okay?" One of the things Allie loved about her was that she didn't press. When she saw that Allie wanted to be left alone, she did just that.

"Okay Pipes," she said softly. Allie couldn't even muster the strength to correct her name.

"So," Allie said tiredly. "Do you have anything so far?" She and Hazel had been trying to decipher the prophecy for a few hours.

"I think so," Hazel said thoughtfully. "The line: _A child of Night will free the fire in chains,_ represents you. The child of 'Night'? I mean, who else could it be? I suppose Nyx is a possibility but she doesn't have any demigods. I mean, if anybody would know, it would be me. I was Order's Lieutenant."

Hazel gave a slight pause as if she was remembering something.

"And you rescued a prisoner from our - no, Order's - dungeons earlier," Hazel said, obviously struggling with the past tense. "Master, I mean _Order,_ wouldn't tell me who it was. Gods, this is so hard. Did the person you helped escape have any relation to fire?"

"Oh." Allie said awkwardly. Order hadn't told her. Her heart was heavy as she tried not to hold her tongue and spare her the anguish. She would find out eventually.

"Hazel," Allie said gently, "Um… The prisoner… It was Leo. Order was holding him captive." The word _torture_ was left unspoken, but the damage was done.

Hazel was pale-faced, and looking ill. "L-Leo?" She squeaked. " _Our_ Leo?" She suddenly looked like she would throw up. She held her stomach as tears streamed down her face.

"So many years," she said, trying not to sob though the tears were already running down her face. _"Our Leo_. Oh by Chaos, I never knew. _I never knew."_

Allie's face creased in sympathy. "I think that's enough of the prophecy for today." She gently hugged Hazel but released her when Hazel jolted suddenly.

"Leo," Hazel said, as if in a trance. She turned her tearstained face towards Allie. "You rescued him. Where is he?"

Allie squeezed her shoulder. "I asked him to go see you, but he wanted to give you time. We discussed it, and figured since you'd only just found out about me, we didn't want to shock you too bad."

"Piper," Hazel said shakily. "Please take me to him. To Mr. Hot Shot. Flaming McSizzle. Leo."

Allie cracked a small smile at those words, offering Hazel a hand up. "Of course Hazel. He really wants to see you, I promise, it's just he's wary."

There was a short silence as her words seemed to sink in.

"...Of me?" Hazel's voice was smaller than Allie had ever heard it.

"No, not at all," Allie said firmly, inwardly cursing herself. "He's worried about your reaction. He thinks he might not be good enough to be your friend anymore."

"Him, not good enough for _me_?" Hazel demanded, a bit of fire returning to her spirit. "That doesn't even make _sense_."

"You're more special than you think, Haze," Allie just replied, grinning. "Like a diamond." She winked at Hazel, who in return rolled her eyes playfully.

"I really want to see our flaming marshmallow now," Hazel said, slight worry creeping back into her voice. "Please, where is he?"

Allie took her hand and lead her across the clearing into a secluded area where Leo was hiding out. There was a slight rustling as Leo walked into the clearing, carrying several logs. He whistled carelessly to himself, doing a strange little jig halfway through his path. Allie chuckled softly, missing all of his quirks.

That, however, was nothing compared to Hazel's reaction.

"L-Leo?" She gasped. He turned around at his name, only to tense as he spotted Hazel.

"Hazel?" He said confusedly. He glanced at Allie, and she shot him a _Hazel-missed-you_ look. His smile softened and he grinned sweetly at the smaller girl.

Hazel rushed forward, but instead of running into his open arms, she threw hers around his neck and collided her lips with his. Leo's surprised arms instinctively wrapped around Hazel to prevent her from falling.

Allie stood, absolutely gobsmacked as she realized that perhaps Hazel's connection with her first love, Sammy, ran deeper than even she had imagined. Hazel unconsciously smiled into the kiss.

"What...?" Allie finally managed, watching Leo's eyes widen and stare at her with a completely bewildered expression. After a few moments, however, he kissed her back tenderly and closed his eyes.

Hazel reached one hand up to gently curl her fingers in his hair and Leo's dimples appeared as he smiled.

The kiss, which had only lasted a few second, ended as they broke apart, panting.

"B-but..." Allie still stammered, in denial. Perhaps Frank did have something to be worried about on the Argo II. Allie half-heartedly wondered if they had done this before, her mind officially blown.

"L-Leo," Hazel stammered, what she had done finally seeming to catch up with her. "Uh - um, I'm sorry. Oh gods… I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that..."

Realization hit him too and he stumbled back, looking at her apologetically. "I'm sorry too," he said dumbly. "Really. I wasn't paying attention, I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that."

Hazel turned slightly pink, but immediately quieted his protests. "That's silly, Leo. It was my fault anyway. I - uhm - we missed you," she said, looking at Allie with slight panic.

"Yeah," Allie blubbered, still struggling to close her mouth. "I mean we missed you so much… and… and... and penguins…?"

Hazel shot her a cross look, crossing arms.

"Yeah," she said softly, laughing. "We missed you like penguins."

Leo smiled gently at her, "Well I missed you too," he replied.

Hazel kissed his cheek swiftly, jumping back almost a meter after she had done so. Her face was aflame, and as Allie looked at both of their blushing faces, she just _knew_ that Leo had completely forgotten about Reyna.

She finally managed to seal her mouth shut. Her mind spun as she assessed all of this new information.

Allie smiled mischievously, the grin lighting up her entire face as she plotted. Leo and Hazel clearly weren't going to admit their newfound feelings.

Perhaps it was time for her to play Matchmaker.


	17. Chapter 17

It had been a few weeks but she and Hazel were no closer to deciphering the rest of the prophecy. Both girls were splayed across the mattress, studying each line carefully.

"So… Apparently I'm supposed to discover my weakness?" There was a short pause as both girls frowned.

"That doesn't even make sense," Allie finally pointed out. "I'm a Guardian. I don't have a weakness. Maybe it's referring to a different child of Chaos."

Hazel rolled her eyes. "Everyone has a weakness, Allie. Perhaps the fact you think you're invincible is yours."

Allie looked at her skeptically. "I know I'm not invincible Haze. My safety isn't that important to me, I just - well, I barely care. If I die defeating Order, then that's a life well lived."

There was a short silence.

"What's yours?" Allie eventually asked, not liking the defiant expression that had settled onto Hazel's face. She was studying Allie with a mixture of anger and determination.

"Well, mine is curiosity," Hazel replied firmly, lacking the ashamed expression that Allie had expected. "Too many soldiers have died because of it."

The indignation slowly melted off her face, and she looked at Allie thoughtfully.

"Chaos had no other children, did she?" Hazel inquired. "I know there's that David… Damien, isn't it? He freaks me out a little. Honestly, he's always glaring at me and then looking confused. I asked him about it once and he told me that it was nothing. What's up with him?"

Allie hesitated, then chickened out. "Yeah. Well, I mean, Damien warms up to you when you get to know him. Do you mind trying? He's actually really important to me." Her cheeks flamed at her sentence.

Hazel raised her eyebrows, Allie's expression not failing to gain her attention. "Really? Well, I guess it was silly of me to think you'd stick with your old friends and not make new ones."

Allie chuckled. "You're actually closer than you realize. I'll give you five days to figure out who he is."

"Who he is?" Hazel inquired. "Who?" She had crossed her arms and was sitting with her back to the end of the tent. Allie let out an _omph_ sound, relaxing into a small beanbag chair in the opposite corner.

"Yes," Allie said, smirking. "Actually, no. I believe it's _whom_."

Hazel halfheartedly flung a pillow at her face. "You're annoying," she complained, "Since when did you become the grammar genius?" Hazel's fluffy hair was swirling around her face, making her expression seem suddenly comical.

"Hey Haze," Allie said suddenly, remembering something. "Hell, you haven't seen Thalia yet, have you?" Her vibrant blue eyes were somewhat similar to Hazel's golden irises in the sense that they had the strangest eyes that she had ever seen.

Hazel jumped up, squealing and jumped around slightly. " _Thalia_? Oh _hell,_ is everyone here? Order, he told me she was _dead!_ " Hazel deflated slightly. "I really have to stop relying on Order's promises."

Allie drew her into a short hug. "She's on the other side of the clearing, but be careful," Allie warned. "I haven't told her who I am yet." The hunters had been camping on the left side of camp, away from the 'repugnant males'.

Hazel looked less than impressed and gaped at her. "You haven't told Thals who you are? Hell, she must be devastated." Hazel shot Allie a disapproving look. "I won't tell her, but I want you to. Soon."

Allie sighed. "I know. I do have to tell her." She chuckled lightly to herself. "And to think I came here with the intention of keeping my identity hidden. This is turning into a nightmare."

Hazel just swatted her arm. "Take me to Thals! Oh gosh, I haven't seen her in _ages_! _Literally_!" Allie made a mental note to introduce her to Reyna at some point.

"Hazel," Allie said, her lips drawn back in a scowl. "Thalia isn't the only one there." Hazel gradually stopped her bouncing and turned to look at her. Her eyes were shimmering in what could have been tears or excitement.

"What do you mean?" Hazel pouted, trying to physically restrain herself from vibrating with energy.

"Annabeth is there," Allie said sternly. "And you can't attack her. I know you want to, but now that I'm alive, she didn't really do anything to you, did she?"

Slowly, the information seemed to sink in.

"Annabeth's there?" Hazel echoed, her voice sounding foreign to even Allie. Her fingers were trembling and Allie grasped her hands in hers.

"But Annabeth didn't do anything to you anymore, because she didn't kill me. Right?" Even as she spoke the words, she knew it was a mistake. Hazel started to slowly swell with anger, ripping her hands from Allie's palms.

"To _me_?" Hazel snarled, her previous ecstasy shattering in front of her eyes. Allie winced. She had started to recognise that Hazel wasn't the same girl she had left on earth all those centuries ago. However, the of that difference extent had startled her. Hazel had equal, if not more, blood curdling up her arms from her years serving in Order's army.

Hazel had changed, and so had she. But looking at her now, Allie could barely recognize the gentle girl that had nursed her back to life on the Argo ll.

"Not me," Hazel growled, a guttural sound that emitted from her throat. " _I_ _don't care that she killed me_. Not at all. But Percy, that's different. She broke Percy's heart, Piper. Right in front of everyone. She _crushed_ it."

Allie gently held her back as she struggled. "Percy is fine," she promised. "He's fine." She quickly flicked her finger, creating a sound ward that encircled the entire tent. She prayed that the hunters hadn't heard Hazel say her real name. Though Camp Jupiter was still aware, Allie didn't want Thalia to know before Allie chose to tell her.

"He's _fine_?" Hazel demanded, her voice gradually rising with each second that passed. "He's not _fine_ , Allie. He's dead! And worst of all, he died with a _broken heart_! So don't tell me that he's fine, because I know he's not. All three of us did. I died and Frank didn't save me. He didn't."

She was crying slightly and Allie hugged her fiercely. "I know. I'm sorry Haze."

"You know how much it hurts, Allie." Hazel was begging, even as she hugged Allie back. "He died after Annabeth broke his heart. _I_ know how much it hurts. So don't tell me he's fine. He's not even _alive_! I have to hurt her. I have to."

"If it helps, I'm alive," a voice broke in. Damien ducked into the tent, looking at them both sheepishly. He still had his hood down, his face veiled under the magic that it possessed.

"Well that's bloody _fantastic_ ," Hazel practically screeched at him, "If I actually cared that is!" Her face was a mask of fury. "We're talking about someone actually important, so if it isn't a problem, can you mind your own business?"

Damien raised his hands in surrender and Allie could see his emerald eyes softening underneath the cloak. He looked at Hazel in a different light, finally recognizing her as someone he could let into his heart.

Allie had almost forgotten how trusting Damien had been - how naive. When Annabeth had hurt him, he had put up walls; those walls had been slowly chipped away by Allie and the rest of the Guardians. Allie felt her heart melt as he looked at Hazel curiously. Hazel had broken through those walls.

"I heard the yelling," Damien said kindly. "You forgot to put up a soundward, Allie." His arms were crossed and he look disappointed.

Allie shook her head vehemently. "I didn't forget, Damien. There's no way I would let the entire camp hear Hazel's thoughts."

Hazel was almost vibrating with rage. "Get out!" She screamed, "Just get out!"

"Haze, honey," Allie said gently, remembering how it used to calm the smaller girl on the Argo ll. "You know how I'm Piper? How do you think I survived?" Her voice was as low as it could go and she was practically whispering in Hazel's ear.

"I - don't - care!" Hazel sobbed, pointing at Damien. "Just make him go. This is a private conversation, a memorial. I haven't grieved… "

There were tears in Damien's eyes as well and he looked more guilty than ever. "You shouldn't have to, Hazel," he said, and his hood flickered and disappeared. Hazel gradually turned her tearstained face up to glance at him, and froze.

Her head slowly turned sideways, a noise between a sob and a scream emerging from her throat. "P-Percy?" She whispered.

Her eyes were wide and terrified, her pupils dilated in disbelief.

But then her neck swung at an unnatural angle, white smoke pouring out of her eye sockets. Hazel's fingertips flickered with bright light, seeming to filter through her skin. With a gasp, Hazel blasted Damien backwards into the tent and he lay, staring at her, wide eyed.

"Oh gods..." She gasped, finally snapping out of her daze. "What's happening? That rush… of _power_." Allie had felt it too.

Hazel's pupils finally came to a rest on Damien's shifting body in the wreckage of the tent. "Oh… Oh did I? Did I do _that_?" Hazel screamed slightly, shocking Allie out of her euphoria.

"Percy! Oh, I did that to _Percy!_ Is he injured? Does he need help?" Hazel raced towards him, shaking him rapidly.

Allie sighed, casting a vision distortion ward around the area. Nobody needed to see that a Guardian could be injured. It would only strike fear into the hearts of the campers.

"Damien, up," Allie grumbled, to which he staggered to his feet. He looked slightly scorched, but otherwise okay. His hair was even more tangled than it had been before and his eyebrows seemed slightly darker than usual.

"Percy!" Hazel squealed, throwing herself onto his back. She hugged his neck so hard he looked as if she was choking him. Allie managed to resist for a whole five seconds.

"Oh, what the hell," she said, joining the group hug. Hazel looped her arm around Allie's neck, bringing Damien and Allie nose to nose. Allie blushed and ducked out, leaving Hazel smirking and Damien bright red.

Hazel gave another muffled sniffle. "I can't believe it. Everyone's alive!" She hugged Damien again, burying her head in his left shoulder. Promptly, she slapped him in the face.

Damien looked stunned by the turn in events.

"How _dare_ you not tell me you were alive," Hazel snarled, looking on the precipice of murderous. Damien had the expression of a startled kitten.

"Er - " he began, but Hazel didn't let him finish.

"How, freaking, dare you." Hazel punched his stomach, but ended up wincing as her hand started to bruise. Damien just looked at her incredulously.

"Girls," was all he said, leading to two slaps in on each cheek from both Allie and Hazel.

There was a short silence as Damien digested what he had just blurted out.

"Should I call Auntie Artemis?" Allie threatened, reveling in the fact that Damien had just gone very pallid. He gave a sheepish smile.

"That's a bit unnecessary," Damien protested weakly.

"Oh, I think it's very, very necessary," Allie teased him some more. Hazel just hugged Damien again and then hit his right tendon, causing him to collapse on the floor.

"Wow," said Damien, looking up from the floor. "So... I'm not gonna die?"

Hazel raised an eyebrow. "Not from Order," she said, her arms crossed. Damien smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry Hazel." She stood on his ribcage, glaring at him.

"Whoa," Damien said, his face turning slightly red. "I - _omph_. You are heavy for such a tiny person." Hazel's mouth dropped open in indignation, and she promptly proceeded to jump on his stomach.

"Muscle - weighs - more - than - fat," Hazel recited, her eyes narrowed. She dropped to the ground to glare suspiciously at Damien. "And either it's 1972, or you just called me _fat_."

Damien slowly paled and gave her a slightly horrified smile. "Are those my only options?"

Hazel just grinned cheekily. "It depends. Did you call me fat?"

Damien shook his head rapidly. "No! No, I promise I didn't. It's just you're a lot heavier than you look." Allie facepalmed, sighing as Hazel gave her a glance.

"Fine, jump on him. He'll live," Allie said, correctly interpreting Hazel's amused look. She flicked her wrist, conjuring some sponges glued to Hazel's feet so that she wouldn't injure him too badly.

"Boys," Allie muttered.

It wasn't until later that she realized she was smiling.

\- Linebreak -

"Thalia!" Hazel squealed, running towards her. Thalia shrieked in delight, spinning Hazel around as she rushed into her arms.

"Hazel! I was wondering when you'd come to see me. I heard about the hospital incident - are you okay?" Thalia's eyes were alight with a sudden life, something that Allie couldn't recall even when they had shared playful banter.

"Duh," Hazel cheered. "Why else would I be standing here?" They hugged again, tears in both of their eyes. Piper, Hazel and Thalia had gotten really close during the last few months Gaea's battle. Hazel had left the Argo after a fight with Frank, deciding to stay with her Praetor's sister.

Allie, or Piper then, had joined her, wanting to bond with whom she had hoped was her future sister in law. The girls had ignited a friendship that was more powerful than Allie had ever found, creating months of memories that had stayed with her for centuries. Allie could still recall each and every day, the condensed giggles surfacing to the front of her mind.

Unknowingly, a grin surfaced on her expression as she watched to two girls that she thought of as sisters embrace. She stared at the two, finally realizing Thalia was looking at her with a confused look on her face.

"Um… Hey Allie," Thalia said, shuffling her feet. "We're friends and all but… You know… I haven't seen Hazel in a while. Do you mind?"

Allie's throat tightened and her chest tingled slightly. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Hazel shot her a sympathetic look, but Allie tried her best to disguise the waves of hurt.

"Of course," Allie managed to choke, forcing her voice to stay smooth. "I'll leave you then. Thanks for - for - " She struggled not to burst into tears at the indifference in Thalia's voice. She forced the water back from her eyelids.

She couldn't think of anything.

"Thanks Thalia." Allie finished, her head bowed. She slowly backed out of the tent, her face burning. Of course they wouldn't want her there. Why would they? She had been nothing but deceitful - in fact, she hadn't even told Thalia who she was!

She rubbed her eyes self consciously, feeling a sudden breeze. Yawning, Allie walked to the tent, suddenly hating the gravel as it crunched under her bare toes.

Allie slowly reached for her wool sweater, then bit her lip, turning towards the navy blue fabric resting on the floor. She hadn't worn Damien's jacket since they had fought. Slowly, her fingers reached out and brushed the frayed, comfortable fabric. With a sigh, she pulled it to her and brought it over her head.

Within a few minutes, she was fast asleep, clutching her favorite blanket and tears on her pillow.

\- Linebreak -

"Allie!"

The voice echoed across the infinite surface. She looked around trying to find the source. She was sitting in a meadow filled with bright white flowers. The beautiful daisies were twisting in the light breeze, seemingly dancing as they swirled around her.

"Allie!" The voice called again. Allie was about to move, when she noticed something peculiar happening to the stems. She gently touched a petal, only to recoil as blood suddenly coated her hands. She stared at it in horror, watching as each flower started to turn a terrible, monstrous red, the blood flowing slowly towards her.

"Oh!" She cried, reaching forward as a small brown child fell from the sky. Her eyes were hollowed and gaunt, her wrists and ankles bound by golden chains. Allie felt a foreboding sense of fear as the cuffs flickered and disappeared. The girl straightened, ignoring Allie's offered hand.

"Allie!" Allie started awake, becoming suddenly conscious of someone rattling her shoulders. The girl dissolved into the blood seeping to her and disappeared, her ghastly smile the only thing she could see.

"Atalanta Chaos!" Damien was bellowing her name at the top of his voice and Allie finally jolted awake.

"Damien," Allie said in surprise. "What the hell are you doing in my tent?" She blushed brightly as she realized she was still wearing the jumper from the night before and hastily tried to cover the insignia on the back.

"No time," Damien managed, his voice breathless. "We're being attacked. I got the Romans up - they're fighting the basis of the army. Order didn't bring his full troops - Camp Half-Blood is on its way."

Allie jumped out of her mattress, vaulting over his crouched form and grabbing her gear. She latched two double edged swords in an X across her back and hooked on her wrist bands, simultaneously jumping into her boots.

A quick bun was all she needed, and Allie held her hand out. Instantly, Damien tossed her his daggers and reloaded his pistols. Finally she took two of the blades by her bedside and hooked them under her armbands.

"Okay, ready," Allie said quickly. "Where are they attacking from?"

Damien just shook his head.

"We're surrounded, Allie. All around. I said Order had brought half his army - and I sure as hell meant it. There are so many of them."

"Count?" Allie checked, her heart starting to pound furiously. She hadn't even bothered to change out of Damien's jacket, simply tossing on some leather protective gear.

"About seventeen thousand," Damien said grimly.

Allie just looked at him as if he had gone insane. "Seventeen thousand?" She demanded. "Really? What's the catch? We can take out seventeen thousand, no problem. What's wrong?"

Damien just shook his head. "Seventeen thousand elites, Allie. _Seventeen thousand_." Allie felt her heart drop into her chest and swore colorfully. She made several rude and gestures with her hands.

 **(A.N - It's a bit perplexing: basically, in Chaos's army, the 'Apprentices' are the Guardians' trainees. In Order's army, the 'Elites' are the Reapers' trainees. If you've forgotten, a Reaper is literally just Order's version of the Guardians. Sorry if this is confusing for everyone… ;-;)**

"What are we waiting for?" Allie demanded, quickly calculating how long it had been since the battle had started. "Let's go."

 _Please let everyone be alive_ , she thought hopefully.

It had become a common wish in the past century. Damien sighed, grabbing her hand as she was about to leave.

"There's one more thing," he said hesitantly, as if reluctant to speak the words. His hands were slightly pale and he was shaking. The weariness in his gaze was strangely reminiscent to the girl in her dream.

"How do you think Order found us?" He couldn't look her in the eyes. The hand that didn't cover hers was resting on the back of his neck - a nervous habit that they had both picked up a while ago.

"A _rat_ ," Allie snarled, slowly putting the pieces together. "Who is it? Who's the _traitor_? I'll wring his filthy neck!" Her hands were clenched around Katoptris, the one knife that she slept with.

Damien just winced, looking at her with a worried expression. "I took a count, Allie." He didn't seem to want to say it, the words forced out of his mouth.

"And… and… Hazel's _missing_."

Allie didn't notice Damien's heartbroken expression as she screamed.

\- Linebreak -

They had been fighting for hours. Backup from Camp Half-Blood still hadn't arrived, and when Damien had called Sapphire on her watch they had simply gotten static. This lead Allie to believe that the Greek camp was being attacked by the other half of the army. Allie could only wonder which side Order had chosen to appear on - or if he had even bothered to show his cowardly face.

Allie heartlessly froze an Elite's heart with a thrust, meeting the man's eyes and snarling into his face. His fearful expression relaxed into nothingness as he fell to the ground with a thud. Allie smiled, her expression feral, moving on to her next target.

She snuck up behind the Elite that a hunter was fighting, stabbing her in the chest and cleanly finishing the job.

"Thanks, Allie," Jess panted. Her face was coated in perspiration and her hands were caked in the fertile dirt. Despite everything, she grasped her bow without hesitation.

"I shouldn't have wandered so far from the hunters," she grunted, wrapping a strip of fabric around her bleeding ankle. Allie assisted, creating a small bubble around them and teleporting her away, back to her sisters.

"Good luck Jess," Allie muttered, beheading another Elite with her Japanese katana. She couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty as she saw her face.

The girl's features was almost identical to Alina's. It seemed that Order liked recruiting demigods just as much as her mother did. Suddenly, the strangest thing happened. The girls eyes flickered with white light - identical to the glow that had emanated from Hazel.

Allie warily walked forward, keeping on her toes as she readied herself for an attack. With a scream, Allie gasped as the Elite got shakily to her feet.

 _She was dead._

Allie had killed her - of that she was certain. As it was, the woman's arm turned translucent and she slowly dropped the sword. Allie couldn't believe what she was seeing. Without a second thought, she separated the woman's torso from her body, feeling spooked.

As she stared into the woman's blank eyes, she finally recognized something. The woman truly had died - this wasn't her. It was an afterimage, a living dead. A soul that was in a place where it didn't exist, where it would never find peace, and that could only mean one thing.

There was a relative of Hades battling.

Before long, Allie found herself fighting back to back with Damien. They were both exhausted, their clothes drenched with sweat and blood as they battled.

"So," Allie wheezed. "Any idea how many are left?" They were almost leaning on one another for support; Allie hadn't realized how much more difficult fighting Elites were to fighting monsters. She hated herself just a little more for underestimating the might of Order's army.

"No," Damien responded, equally exhausted. "Maybe… I killed about twelve thousand."

Allie nodded. "I've done about eleven," she said. Damien tensed, and she could feel the wired muscles in his back contracting as he quickly did the math.

"That doesn't make sense," he muttered, creating an inferno of flame in his hands. He almost collapsed from the effort and Allie struggled to hold him up.

"Come on Damien," she encouraged, but it sounded more like a growl than anything else. With little reluctance, Allie summoned water from the ocean nearby. She could feel it calling to her and a tugging in her gut signaled its arrival. Allie gasped as a sharp jab of pain pierced her chest as the effort of bringing the liquid across the miles took its toll.

This time it was Damien who had to hold her up.

"We need to get to higher ground," Allie snarled, giving one of the Elites a proper roundhouse kick to the face.

Damien didn't even have to agree, together, they teleported to one of the cliff overhangs and surveyed the battle. Allie summoned her bow.

"Despite everything, you still suck at archery Damien," Allie sighed. "Go fight. I know you only teleported here for my sake. _Go_." She pushed Damien off of the cliff, smiling as he saluted her as he fell.

A meter from the ground, he teleported away to somewhere in the middle of the battle. Allie couldn't help but smile before loading her bow.

Her eyes turned steely and she aimed.

\- Linebreak -

It had been several more hours and Allie was ready to collapse of exhaustion. Camp Half-Blood had finally arrived, having been delayed by attacks on the Hephaestus Cabin. They had eagerly jumped into battle, giving the weary Romans and Hunters the reprieve they needed.

Slowly, Order's forces were weakening.

Though his army was impressive, the Chaotic soldiers had also joined the fight. Allie smiled grimly, as it had been one of her most difficult mental debates of all time. She had thought about sending the soldiers - _her_ soldiers - back to their homes where they could be with their families.

But while she had a responsibility to her people, she had a larger image to think about: her mother's last mission as Commander. Allie had to save Earth, and she would do it if it was the last thing she did.

After that, she was _done_. She didn't want to set foot on the cursed planet ever again.

She grit her teeth, suddenly remembering her eerie dream as she fired a bullet into the head of a girl that looked strangely similar to her. Allie had been seeing familiar faces in each and every Elite she killed.

She girl opened her mouth, and no words came out. She slowly sank to the ground, the life fading from her eyes.

 _I'm sorry,_ Allie thought miserably. The satisfaction of killing had long faded from her consciousness. She fought her way through the crowd, but stopped as she sensed a powerful aura emanating from a mile away.

Allie changed her direction, determined to discover if this intruder was friend or foe. After only a few minutes, she spotted the person, wreathed in golden light as her eyes flickered silver.

She was so ethereal that Allie almost didn't recognise her, but when she did, she reeled back in shock and betrayal.

Her brown hair whipped past her face and her eyes were closed - the bright light filtering through her eyelashes.

"Hazel," Allie screamed, her eyes glistening with tears as she watched her friend strike down one of the chaotic soldier. _Her_ soldier.

 _Her soldier._

"Stay away!" Allie snarled, blocking another fatal strike from hitting one of her soldiers. The man shot her a thankful look, bowing his head slightly as he recognized her. Allie approached Hazel, making the sign behind her back to leave.

"Atalanta," Hazel said monotonously. Her voice was smooth, but for the first time, Allie noticed that Hazel's eyes were filled with glittering tears.

"Hazel," Allie said, her voice bordering on frigid as she sensed the amount of warriors that had died in the area.

"Allie," Hazel cried suddenly, the mask breaking. "Help me, he - " She broke off and a serene expression settled on her face.

Allie gasped, realization sinking in. _The prophecy_ , she thought shakily.

" _In different ropes to make one drown,_

 _The daughter of Pluto is once again bound."_

Bound by the darkness Order had forced into her mind - possession at the very least. Allie prayed for Hazel to be strong. Her limbs were shaking as she desperately tried to resist the mind control that Order was feeding her. Her eyes were wet with tears.

Hazel let out another strangled cry before a dark expression veiled her face. Her eyes gleamed cruelly and her mouth was carved into a disgusting smile. Her fists, which had been so tightly curled, were calmly released. Instinctively, Allie looked at her own fingers, sizzling with fire, and clenched her hands to extinguish the flames.

Her hatred battled with one another, a deep burning desire to avenge her soldiers that Hazel had murdered, and bitterness, a terrible guilt that settled inside her for even thinking of hurting her sister.

Eventually, Allie just couldn't bear the sight of it. "You can do it, Haze," she whimpered, staring into the cold, gold orbs. "Fight him. Please. You can do it."

And then she teleported away, the tears streaking down her face. Allie felt her eyes swell with shame, with bitterness, as she finally ran.

Because she was too afraid of losing her loved ones. Allie suspected she had always known it, had always been aware. Damien's flaw was personal loyalty. When he loved somebody, he never let them go.

However, Allie's was much worse. And she was finally realizing what it was. She was mentally, and more importantly, physically, _incapable_ of hurting those she loved. It was impossible. Allie was so scared that she was going to lose them, she never really fought with all her might against them.

A cold claw closed around her heart.

" _Discover their weakness, discover her bane."_

The prophecy. It had been coming true all along. Allie should have seen it coming. She had had a dream mere hours ago that depicted Hazel, as a child, being bound by golden chains. Allie forced her lungs to contract, to inhale oxygen.

She had to breathe. She had to concentrate. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw a long figure going against a pack of wolves. She squinted, her heart starting to pound as she recognized the silver parka and spiky black hair.

Thalia was shooting silver arrows at the werewolves. Allie gasped as she watched Lycaon reared up on his hind legs behind her. Thalia was still obliviously killing off members of his pack, and was concentrating on her aim rather than defense.

There was nothing Allie could do. If she shouted, she wouldn't hear it in time and Lycaon would attack even faster. Allie couldn't move, she couldn't stop the blow. She had already lost one sister that day, and she'd be damned if she lost the other.

And so she did the one thing she could.

Allie teleported behind her and pushed her out of the way.

She let out a guttural scream that echoed through the battlefield as his claws pierced her armor, plunging into her chest. Red, mortal blood drenched the clothes beneath and he roared in fury, slashing the air wildly.

Through the blotchy vision, with spots of blood slowly seeping across her eyes, Allie saw staring Thalia at her in shock.

"A-Allie? Allie? Why?" She stammered. "Why'd you take the blow?"

With the last of her strength, Allie pressed the small red bird on her left wrist. She closed her eyes, groaning.

The world faded into blurry red, and the next thing I knew, Damien was there, tackling the monster to the ground. He let out a roar of defiance and started fighting with his spare sword, hacking furiously away at him.

Lycaon gave a leap, hitting his shoulder, and Damien collapsed and fell to the ground, panting. He put up a water shield but he was so tired he couldn't hold it up firmly.

"Damien!" Allie screamed as he Lycon pinned him to the ground, claws digging into his bones. She struggled against her drowsiness to reach him, and launched herself on Lycaon as she clung on for her life. The Wolf King snarled, jumping madly in an attempt to throw her.

Damien saw her, and with the last of his energy, he took Anaklusmos from his pocket and uncapped it. As if in slow motion, the celestial bronze penetrated straight through Lycaon's armor as the sword elongated.

Allie didn't need to see Thalia a few inches from her to know that their cover had been blown.

"Percy," she whispered in realization, salty water falling down her cheeks. She looked at Allie as if she was thinking to herself, and then her eyes widened in terror and filled with even more tears.

"Piper," she sobbed, throwing herself at her. She got some slightly squished ambrosia from her pocket and offered it, still crying, but Allie pushed her hand away.

"Won't help," She coughed. "Get… Damien."

He was torturing the monster, limb by limb, cutting it off with a flaming sword. Thalia pushed him out of the way, her hands held in front of her as she pleaded.

"Perce, you gotta heal her! I don't know who else to call." His eyes widened and he scrambled over to Allie, his eyes clouding with worry.

Allie could strangely feel her life draining out as her eyes were slowly encased in a layer of blood. All she could see was red, the surface becoming thicker and thicker until it blotted the whole world out.

The very last thing Allie heard before she faded, was a persistent noise that sounded a lot like Damien, yelling.

"Get Apollo!" The voice snarled. " _Get him now_!" And then she was lifted up in a curtain and the world turned to noise in the background once again.

She couldn't feel, or smell anything. There was nothing.

" _The skull of weakness is soon revealed,_

 _For the Night's greatest secret will not stay concealed."_

 **\- Linebreak -**

 **If you guys don't get it, the prophecy has been completed! *Yay!* Or sort of sad, because now Piper's in deep trouble. Don't worry, this story will have a happy ending, I'm not a monster. It's probably going to be… sort of soon? I've finished like ⅔ of the story, so there's still a while to go.**

 **First of all, I want to apologize. I've been incredibly busy lately, because (unfortunately for you) I do have a social life. Also, because this is the end of the year, I have the testing going on.**

 **I especially owe an apology to 'JESSICA' (I love the caps btw): I really appreciate those reviews, you've put up with me for a while. I kept reading the reviews and reminding myself - keep writing! But then something would come up and then I'd have to study or etc.**

 **Ok, I gotta go. Love you guys, and thanks for sticking with me for so long.**

Kathie


	18. Chapter 18

The world was a blur of color and panicked cries. Allie could feel the shattered pieces of her armor piercing a lung and coughed wildly. She blearily saw the blood in her palm from when she had hacked up the saliva. Her eyes stung as she stared directly at the lights above.

Allie closed them immediately, struggling not to cry. The pain was more intense than she had ever felt, the poison from Lycaon's claws streaming like liquid fire through her veins. Allie moaned, a section of her hand dissolving from the poison.

Allie muffled the scream that, nonetheless, tore wildly from her throat. She heard urgent whispers and something cold entering her left palm. An incision, perhaps. She sharp metal felt unnatural, distinctive, and it took all her might not to react.

For the next few hours, all Allie could hear was voices. Panicked, soothing, worried… The pain had faded until she simply couldn't feel her body. Finally, after many hours, she finally mustered up the courage to open her eyes and unfreeze her body.

Slowly, her nerves reacted to the warmth and started to tense up as they experienced pain for the first time in what felt like an eternity.

The first thing she felt was a hand - a gently fist tightly clenched around her own. She managed a heaving cough, and tried to sit up. Despite her best efforts, the excruciation that filled her forced her back onto the mattress and she forced herself not to moan.

She turned her head to the side and was confronted with a forest of thick, black hair.

"Damien?" Allie mumbled, still sleepy. "Is that you?" He didn't respond, still snoring slightly in his sleep. For the first time, Allie noticed a puddle on the floor, and groaned in disgust.

"Damien," she sighed, louder.

Nothing. He didn't even move his head, just proceeding to snort and mumble something in his sleep. Peppers? Allie shook her head, smiling, but then paused.

"Damien!" She yelped finally, as he started to drool on _her_. He made a disgruntled sound, finally looking up. Allie almost jumped back at the state he was in, his face was bruised and for the first time, she noticed that he was wearing the same bloodstained clothes that he had fought in.

"Als!" He practically hollered. " _You're alright!_ " And then he was hugging her, and crying. And then she was crying too, and then both of them were laughing, comforted by one another's presence. In that moment, Allie finally started to believe that they could win the war.

And then she looked down.

Where her fingers used to be, was something… something foreign. Instead of the tanned, scarred flesh she had been accustomed too, she saw smooth metal. She felt a lump in her throat as her heart simultaneously tightened.

Damien squeezed her ordinary hand.

"There was nothing Apollo could do, Allie... I'm sorry." He hugged her again, gently taking the IV out of her arm.

"It's - it's osmium," Allie mumbled, examining it closely. She refused to cry - to feel emotion. She felt as if stating the facts would help take the edge off of the terror she was currently battling.

"It's… it's..." Allie couldn't continue. She was simply thankful that she wasn't left handed. She flexed the metallic instrument confusedly, trying not to marvel at its expert craftsmanship.

"It's beautiful," she managed. "Who… wait - did Charlie?" Allie and Damien both knew very well that the only ones who had access to osmium were the Guardians.

"Actually..." Damien scratched the back of his head nervously, in the way he always did when he was bashful.

"I made it," he admitted.

Allie's eyes widened and her heart swelled even as she had tried to brush it off. "You didn't let Charlie do it, you dummy," she correctly guessed.

Damien shrugged. "I wanted to be safe. You know I trust them with our lives… but I just wanted to double check that he was doing it right. Eventually, Charlie just rolled his eyes and handed it to me."

Allie kissed him gently on the cheek, and he blushed immediately. Similarly, Allie couldn't help the slight pink hue that rose to her cheeks and pretended to be preoccupied examining her new hand.

"So," she teased, "should I expect it to explode in my face?" She was proud of how the osmium was crafted to look exactly like a hand, the fingernails complete with the ridges of human fingerprints.

"I had your prints on file," Damien explained before she could ask. "Don't you remember? Like a century ago? Chaos had us install those fingerprint scanners… Man that failed… but I still had your fingerprints. So I just scanned them onto your new hand. Is it… okay?"

Allie laughed, bringing his head to hers, and looked directly into his eyes.

"It's perfect Damien," she said honestly, using her new hand to tap his nose. "I love it, I swear. And I wouldn't have had anybody else make it, either." He looked incredibly relieved, and Allie actually had to stifle a laugh.

"Did you actually think I wouldn't like it?" She asked him, making a silly face at his bewildered expression.

Finally, he grinned triumphantly. "Hell, Allie, you're in for a huge surprise." He spread his hands in a small rainbow, making small jazz hands and she had to resist the strange urge to peck him on the lips.

She couldn't help it, sometimes he was so adorable that she either wanted to kiss him or throttle him.

It was most often the latter.

"What?" Allie asked, her eyes sparkling as she wondered if there was another surprise. She felt a sort of childish joy, similar to the kind she had often gotten on Christmas morning.

"Well," Damien drew out the word so that it sounded more like _wellllllllllll_ , "I might have modified the instructions a bit."

Allie winced, instinctively holding her arm as far away from her face as possible. "Oh no," she said, without much feeling. "Honestly, I don't know if you're joking or not. How scared should I be? Please tell me. I need to know how much I should be freaking out."

Damien just chuckled, scuffing up her hair. She glared at him, but didn't protest except for batting his hands away from her completely unintentional messy bun.

"So what did you do to it?" She asked, still slightly worried that it would explode in her face and take out her eyes.

"It's not going to mess up your vision, Allie," Damien said, rolling his eyes. She blinked in surprise, turning to face him. Allie ignored the twinges, which were more like stabbing knives, of pain.

"How did you know?"

He looked genuinely confused. "Wait, that's what you… oh. I mean, yeah, I totally know what you're thinking." He tapped his head and winked at her comically. "Totally."

Allie punched his arm. "Get to the point, Trident Face."

He raised his eyebrows. "We're back to nicknames, are we? Well then, Silver Tongue, I guess it's on." She scrunched up her face in a revolted expression, making sure to cross her eyes. He took one look at her and burst into fervent laughter.

"Silver Tongue?" She demanded, slapping his shoulder. "Gods, even _Wise Girl_ was better than that." The room fell silent and Allie finally realized the words that had just come out of her mouth. She immediately covered it with her hand.

"By Chaos… Damien… I'm sorry." He didn't move for a second, then seemed to force himself to shrug.

"It's fine, Als. I can think of another nickname." His posture was slumped and he suddenly looked less confident. Less like the Damien she knew.

She shot him a small smile. "Now that you say it..." she motioned for him to slouch down and rest his head on her stomach. When he did so, she ran her hands through his completely messy hair and tried to tame the small spikes that stood up at the back.

"Silver tongue." She pondered the name. "Why?"

Damien shrugged, a smile beginning to form at the corners of his mouth. Allie inwardly cheered slightly: he was already beginning to forget about ABC.

"Well… it's not really how you look, it's more than that." Damien looked confused at his own words, but Allie was already touched by them. "Your voice, and not just your charmspeak, is really special. If you asked me, without powers, to chop off my foot, I would probably do it. All you'd have to do is say the word."

Allie smiled at him, shaking her head.

"So I'm a Siren?" She asked, "A _Σειρήν_?"

"Nope," Damien said, wrapping an arm gently around her. "You're _my_ siren. My BFFESDUMWHUUWTGYBK."

Allie blinked at the series of letters. "Your what now?"

"My Best Friend For Eternity So Don't You Mess With Her Unless You Want To Get Your Butt Kicked." He looked at her seriously.

"Duh."

Allie just laughed at him. "In that case," she teased, "You're my APWTHMBBIRJTSGE."

Damien blinked. "I didn't hear the letters 'BFF' anywhere in that sentence Allie." He put his hand dramatically to his forehead. "I guess this means we have to break up."

Allie just chuckled. "No, you Annoying Person Who Thinks He's My Bodyguard But Is Really Just The Sweetest Guy Ever." She paused to take in his expression, then smirked at him.

"Duh."

"Awh, _you_ ," he said cutely, and hugged her. "Wait, I'm not really sweet am I?"

"You're adorable," Allie deadpanned.

Damien pouted, before ever-so-clearly realizing how 'unmanly' of an expression it was. His mouth dropped open in a perfect O as his eyes widened.

" _Oh_ ," he said, realization seemingly dawning on him. "So that's why..." He facepalmed, hitting his head against the mattress of Allie's elevated hospital bed.

Allie just grinned childishly. "Well? I'm waiting."

He raised an eyebrow, looking seriously quizzical. "For what?"

"For you to tell me why you chose the name, Trident Face," Allie said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh… the name," he remembered. "Huh…" They sat in a comfortable silence for a few seconds, relaxed in one another's company.

"Well, I like silver," he said thoughtfully. "Maybe not more than blue, but I could hardly call you blue tongue, could I… I mean, it just sounds like you ate a ring pop."

Allie chuckled at that, "Do you remember that time we raided Walnut?" She paused. She couldn't tell what exactly, but something sounded wrong about that sentence.

"Walmart," Damien corrected, and she distinctly recalled the store. "I can't believe we both remember that. I forgot how many we bought, but it was really great before the earthborn found us. I mean, we were practically living on the things."

"Ring power, and never trust Earthborn," they both recited together, and collapsed into giggles. Allie sighed, putting her head on his shoulder after she had pushed his head off of her stomach.

"Wait one sec," she ordered, motioning for him to turn around.

Damien did so, and Allie attempted, one more time, to tame the stubborn tufts that just refused to stay down. Allie grumbled in frustration but eventually acknowledged that it was futile battle.

"Fine," she said, finally admitting defeat. "I really hate your hair."

He smirked. "Hair 1, Allie 0." Allie pinched him, and then burst out laughing as he jumped a foot in the air.

"Actually, though," she relented, "Silver Tongue isn't so bad. As a matter of fact, I think I even like it." She shared a mock awed look with him. "Isn't it a _miracle_?" He flicked her hair and Allie groaned as it came out of it's bun, some of the strands falling in front of her face.

"You're annoying," was all she said, pouting.

He smirked and did the same to her nose. "It's what I live for, Silver Tongue." Allie sighed, hating how her eyes crossed, but not really caring.

"Damien..." Allie murmured, contently. His head was resting on her shoulder, and she, in turn, had shifted her weight so that she was leaning on his. If she moved just a centimeter to the right, their lips would touch.

"Yeah?" He said cheerfully, completely oblivious to the inward debate going on in her head.

"I - I - Um, how did you alter my hand again?" Allie was inwardly banging her metaphorical head against a brick wall.

"Oh!" Damien shot up, his excitement peaking. "I totally forgot - the hand!" He was practically vibrating with anticipation as he examined it closely.

Allie grinned, just adoring the joyful expression on his face. She suddenly felt like a monster for keeping it from him for so long - for not forgiving him about Hazel…

The smile died from her face.

Hazel.

She blinked back her sudden tears and tried to listen to what Damien was saying. His voice sounded like it was echoing across the room and she had to stare at him until she could finally focus on him.

"Well, because the molecules in osmium have a high melting point, I combined it with a bit of silver. That triggered the reactive state of the osmium, making able to regenerate and have a selectively permeable surface."

Allie blinked. "Whoa," she said dumbly. "I think you might have just graduated college. Is that a speech or something?"

He swatted her head, rolling his eyes. " _Anyways_ , this means that it can morph into anything you want. I imbued it with some of your power, well, that's actually how I attached it. I didn't implant nerves, so you can't feel pain there, but it is a living part of your body now."

Allie frowned thoughtfully, glancing at the hand with sudden inspiration.

"So… if it's regenerative, then the osmium would naturally come back in time?" He nodded, starting to smirk at her ecstatic expression.

"Now you're getting it," he said, looking as if he wanted to congratulate himself. Allie just hit his shoulder for good measure. Damien pouted.

"So I could…" Allie changed her hand into a gun, her thoughts triggering the change. Without motion, she shot the bullet upwards and it created a small hole into the ceiling.

"Sweet!" Allie yelled, incredibly excited at the prospect of new weapons. "Damien, you're the best friend ever!" She hugged him tightly until he couldn't breathe, and then let him go.

"Damn, Allie," he said, gasping for breath. "Give me a warning before the death hugs come on." He massaged his chest resentfully, mock-glaring at her. Allie just smiled cheekily back.

"Never," She promised.

\- Linebreak -

It had been a few days since Allie had been released from the hospital. It was a small, ordinary place that had been located a few miles to the south of the Camp. Needless to say, it got a handsome tip.

Thalia still wasn't talking to Allie, walking in the other direction whenever she tentatively approached. Allie felt her heart split open in a fresh wound whenever she saw her.

"Allie," Damien said tiredly. " _Allie._ " She spun around and had morphed her hand into a silver knife before she realized who it was.

"Oh," she said tiredly. "It's you."

He smiled, "Don't sound too pleased to see me."

Allie rolled her eyes, trying not to sound too depressed. "Any news on Hazel?" Her arms were crossed self-consciously. The past few days had been difficult.

Allie had taken to turning herself invisible before any campers could see her. It felt like everybody knew who she was, though she was aware that Camp Half-Blood was still oblivious. Similarly, the Amazons were equally out of the loop.

In a strange way, she was relieved that Thalia now knew, even if it was incredibly unconventional. It was like a weight had been taken off of her shoulders - and a huge boulder had been thrown on instead.

The pain of Thalia hating her was just as severe as Hazel's unwilling betrayal. Allie bowed her head, knowing that she would do anything to see the spark of life back in her sister's' eyes.

"There's nothing on Hazel, Allie," Damien said sympathetically. "I - "

"Just don't say it," Allie said, her stomach trembling as she forced her tears back. "Don't say 'I told you so'. I know, I _know._ "

Allie just wrapped her arms around herself, tears stinging her eyes. Damien just hugged her tightly, letting go after a minute.

"I'm not cruel, Allie. I would never say that. I know that Order was controlling her, and I'm willing to give her another chance." He looked at her firmly. "As many as it takes."

Allie's mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Finally, she just hugged him fiercely.

"Your mom would be so proud," Allie whispered into his ear. His roguish hair tickled her nose and she sneezed slightly.

She could feel him smile, trying not to laugh when she shook her head. "Which one?"

"Both," she responded, wrapping her arms more tightly around his neck. She inhaled and noticed, not for the first time, that he smelled like caramel and salt water.

"You smell good," she mumbled. "Next time, eat more chocolate so that you smell like chocolate. I like chocolate."

Damien's chest rumbled as he laughed. "Duly noted."

\- Linebreak -

Sorry this chapter is so short, but you need fillers sometimes. Ican take criticism, I _promise_ , and I definitely would appreciate advice on how to improve my story. In honor of the reviewers whom asked me to incorporate Damien (aka Percy) more into this story, I will try to alternate between Damien and Allie's POVs. Thanks for commenting and reading!

Love,

The Author who is very tired and wants to sleep forever…


	19. Chapter 19

Allie smiled, dodging the low blow sent directly at her shoulder. Instead, she grabbed his leg and rolled, dragging Damien under her own lithe spine. With a twist, she dislocated his knee.

She heard the satisfying pop and the resulting moan of pain.

"Mercy?" She asked, childishly sticking out her tongue at him. He responded in kind.

"No," She bent his body backwards, creating the knowing spikes of pain that shot up his arms.

"Mercy! Fine, mercy," he said hastily. Allie smiled, kissing his forehead as he pouted adorably. There was a slight pause as they both digested what she had done. They both jumped away from one another, blushing as they realized that they were in a slightly compromising position.

Allie just sighed. They had been dancing around one another for weeks, unable to form a platonic relationship but too stupid to apologize to the other.

She offered him a hand up, one that he, being the good sport he was, took. Allie was finally proud to say that she could successfully pound Damien in Mercy. However, he still excelled beyond her with swords and hand-to-hand combat. She was better in close combat and archery, though that was a given with Damien's abysmal record of shooting accidents.

They were about equal with the rifle, though Allie didn't want to admit that he was perhaps _slightly_ better.

Slightly.

Damien engaged her again and Allie parried his shot.

"Mercy?" She asked, throwing herself to the ground to avoid a roundhouse kick. She spun to her left, only to have the wind knocked out of her has she groaned. She leapt to her feet, still awaiting his answer.

"Yup." He responded cheerfully, and Allie silently vowed to wipe the positive expression off of his face.

"Of course we are," she said, rolling her eyes.

\- Linebreak -

It had been a few days and Allie still couldn't bring herself to admit to herself or the camp that she didn't want to see them.

She didn't quite know how to re-introduce herself to Thalia - how to tell her that she hadn't been ignoring her for almost a month. Allie held her head in her hands; she just didn't know what to do.

\- Linebreak -

"Mercy! By Chaos, Mercy!" Allie snarled at him. He released her in response and she punched him the face.

"Ugh, I hate you," Allie snapped at him, stretching her arms as they screamed in protest. He shrugged, her tiny blow barely even making a mark.

"What?" He asked as she looked at him in surprise.

"Your don't look hurt," she responded, looking confused. Damien rolled his eyes, pointedly shoving his nose into her face. She pushed him back, trying not to look irritated and plastered on a smile that seemed more like a mask than much else.

"I've kind of gotten used to it," he pointed out. "Anyways, I'm kind of hungry. Do you want to go grab some food?"

"Yeah," she said, looking rather agreeable. "Sure. I'm feeling some tacos. What about you?" Damien sighed, jumping up and down a few times to relieve his exhaustion.

"I'm craving a bagel." His stomach rumbled just thinking about it and she clenched her fists tightly. She took a breath, sighed, and then…

Allie smiled, "Well, let's go get bagels then." He looked at her in surprise but she just grinned, lightly touching his shoulder. Damien couldn't help but notice how her hand withdrew immediately after, as if she was utterly repulsed by touching him.

He repressed a sliver of hurt.

"I've noticed I've been underappreciating my best friend lately," Allie said, almost hissing the words through her teeth. Though Damien couldn't help but feel his heart sink at the words ' _best friend'_ , he still nodded encouragingly.

"Thanks. Now can you call me 'Your Majesty and fetch me a bagel with cream cheese?'" He was immediately met with a fist to the face and a hand helping him up.

"Even I'm not that nice," Allie scoffed, "And you know I'm the nicest person on the planet." Damien rolled his eyes but wrapped her in a bear hug anyways.

"Let's go get bagels, Silver Tongue," he said cheekily, expecting her to respond, maybe taunt him. She did no such thing, simply rolling her eyes and strolling away, a strange gait in her step.

"Bagels," she said cheerfully, but to Damien it seemed rather forced. He narrowed his eyes almost imperceptibly, a snarl lingering at the corners of his mouth.

"Bagels," he muttered uneasily, refusing to shake off the notion that something was terribly wrong.

 **\- Linebreak -**

 **Author's Note** _! IMPORTANT EXPLAINS SHORT CHAPTER !_ **: I gave you guys an excerpt of the next chapter so you didn't kill me for just posting an author's note btw… :P**

 **I appreciate every single review and follow/favorite. Despite that, I am now working on another fanfiction because it is getting a much more positive response than this fanfiction. Don't get me wrong, I love you guys and will finish this story, believe me I worked on it for three years in planning, but I'm going to concentrate more on my Harry Potter story Pendulum (Hermione Time Travel & Marauder Fic). **

**Review:**

 **Will finish this story**

 **Love you guys**

 **Feel slightly disappointed at the response to this story**

 **Makes me cherish you guys even more**

 **Thank you for reading.**

 **Love you (again)**

 **Thank you for reading! Slower updates but will continue.**


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